As Congress heard testimony about the January 6 Capitol riot, a reporter with The New York Times branded all supporters of former President Donald Trump “enemies of the state.”
“Today’s #January6thSelectCommittee underscores the America’s current, essential [national security] dilemma: Work to combat legitimate national security threats now entails calling a politician’s supporters enemies of the state,” tweeted Katie Benner, who covers the Justice Department for the nation’s most prestigious newspaper.
That suggests up to all 74 million Americans who voted for Donald Trump pose an imminent threat to democracy.
“As Americans, we believe that state power should not be used to work against a political figure or a political party,” she continued. “But,” she asked, “what happens if a politician seems to threaten the state? If the politician continues to do so out of office and his entire party supports that threat?”
“The dilemma was unresolved by the Russia probe and 2 impeachments,” Benner proceeded, in a tweet thread posted on Tuesday, which she subsequently deleted.
Benner implied the solution is to defeat the numerous voter integrity laws making their way through GOP-controlled state legislatures. “That leaves it up to voters, making even more essential free, fair access to the polls,” she wrote.
A writer for the most prominent newspaper in America, the NY Times, vilifies us as “enemies of the state” in her Jan 6 analysis.
The ruling class hates us, and the corporate media is the enemy of the people. pic.twitter.com/1JQAJmoqpN
— Steve Cortes (@CortesSteve) July 28, 2021
Benner formerly worked for a “news outlet” founded in Maoist China. The New York Times reported in 2015 that, before Benner joined the newspaper of record, “she wrote for Beijing Review.” Beijing Review, formerly Peking Review, is published by the China International Publishing Group, which “was founded in 1949 with a mission to introduce China to foreign countries through books, magazines and websites.” It is officially controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.
Benner’s work for the CCP propaganda outlet is omitted from her official New York Times biography.
Her wording instantly raised concerns throughout social media. Totalitarian regimes frequently labeled any dissident an “enemy of the state,” or “enemy of the people,” before their execution.
Lawyer Jonathan Turley tweeted:
2018: New York Times denounces Trump for calling it the “enemy of the people” as “inflammatory” and dangerous.
2021: New York Times reporter calls for all Trump supporters to be declared “enemies of the people.”
2018: New York Times denounces Trump for calling it the "enemy of the people" as "inflammatory" and dangerous. https://t.co/4fYaYdwZp9
2021: New York Times reporter calls for all Trump supporters to be declared "enemies of the people." https://t.co/ne0MA1jyXh
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) July 28, 2021
“I am once again asking the journalists to not casually refer to members of the political party they don’t like as enemies of the state,” wrote Drew Holden.
Under significant backlash, Benner erased the messages. “I deleted unclearly worded tweets regarding the Jan 6. committee hearing,” she wrote.
I deleted unclearly worded tweets regarding the Jan 6. committee hearing.
— Katie Benner (@ktbenner) July 27, 2021
But Benner’s views echo those of prominent officials on the Left. Shortly after the 2020 election, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) supported the formation of a Trump Accountability Project, an effort to cancel and blacklist “Trump sycophants” and deny them employment prospects. Clinton administration Treasury Secretary Robert Reich similarly proposed a “Truth and Reconciliation Commission” to flush out the identities of every American who helped “enable” the Trump administration.
Benner’s tweet calls into question whether the legacy media has the ability to cover the Biden administration — or its political opponents — accurately.
“This is a reporter — not an op-ed writer — saying this,” tweeted civil libertarian Glenn Greenwald. “[T] he fixation on 1/6 is about exactly this: classifying Trump supporters as Enemies of the State for political gain & Security State power.”
Absolutely amazing: the New York Times' Justice Department reporter says the US faces an "essential natsec dilemma": namely, that Trump supporters are "enemies of the state" and all of the GOP is a threat to the State. This is a reporter — not an op-ed writer — saying this: https://t.co/OmXNyRpYx4
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) July 27, 2021
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.