"The editorial page of The Wall Street Journal is known for its conservative tone, but an editorial the newspaper published online Tuesday night would stand out even in the pages of its left-leaning peers.
The editorial was an extraordinarily harsh rebuke of President Trump, calling him ‘his own worst political enemy’ and asserting that he was damaging his presidency ‘with his seemingly endless stream of exaggerations, evidence-free accusations, implausible denials and other falsehoods.’
In particular, the editorial board pointed to Mr. Trump’s unsubstantiated claims that former President Barack Obama had tapped his phones. ‘The President clings to his assertion like a drunk to an empty gin bottle,’ the editorial said, even though senior intelligence officials, as well as Republicans and Democrats, have said they have seen no evidence to support Mr. Trump’s accusations.
The paper’s editorial and opinion writers have been critical of Mr. Trump in the past, although the language of this editorial, which ran in Wednesday’s paper, seemed intended to remind the president to focus on his stated goals rather than distractions. And the timing of the editorial — during a week in which Mr. Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Neil M. Gorsuch, is testifying at confirmation hearings and the House of Representatives is expected to vote on the Republican health care bill — is almost certainly not a coincidence.
In a statement, a spokeswoman for The Journal said, ‘The editorial speaks for itself,’ and declined to make Paul Gigot, the editorial page editor, available for an interview.
The editorial, headlined ‘A President’s Credibility,’ criticized President Trump for ‘rolling out his press spokesman to make more dubious claims’ — namely, repeating an unsupported allegation by a Fox News commentator that British intelligence had wiretapped Mr. Trump on behalf of the Obama administration. Like The Journal, Fox News is controlled by Rupert Murdoch, who has ties to the president.
The editorial concluded: ‘Two months into his Presidency, Gallup has Mr. Trump’s approval rating at 39 percent. No doubt Mr. Trump considers that fake news, but if he doesn’t show more respect for the truth, most Americans may conclude he’s a fake President.’
"Wall Street Journal Editorial Harshly Rebukes Trump - The New York Times:
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