CNN host Brian Stelter claimed that President Donald Trump is “poisoning the American people” during a panel discussion at the Aspen Ideas Festival last week.
The panel, called “How We Survive Attacks on Journalism,” took place on June 27 and featured a number of journalists lamenting Trump’s attacks on the media.
“President Trump is poisoning the American people, specifically a subset of the American people that has been infected by the poison,” Stelter said. “It is getting worse every day and we’re going to reckon with the consequences for decades.”
“I don’t mean to be the pessimist. Actually, some days I’m very optimistic,” he continued. “I wake up glass half full a lot of days and I think Trump’s pretty weak right now and we’re gonna get through this and it’s an aberration.”
Stelter added that he wonders if the press is in the middle of an “emergency” and what journalists can do differently to “win people back.”
“I think we have to ask ourselves, if this is an emergency, what should you, what should I, what should we be doing differently? If this is a crisis, what should we be doing differently? Will we be proud of ourselves in 20 years? Was this an aberration or is this the start of something new and very troubling and then how are we going to win people back? How are we going to win people back?” he questioned.