Merkel Pushes Back on Trump`s Media Attacks, Calls for `Respect`

by Dramelin 4:30 AM 0 comments

?We?ve always done well in Germany when we mutually respect each other.?Angela Merkel in Munich on Feb. 18. ?If there are differences of opinion, then we discuss it, but we accept press freedom as a great pillar of democracy,? she said. She responded with a commitment to press freedom in Germany -- an element of the nation?s revival of democracy under American-led tutelage after World War II. Photographer: Alex Kraus/BloombergThe comment is a rejoinder after a tumultuous week in Washington, where Trump used part of a 77-minute press conference to pillory the U.S. media as dishonest and unfair. German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed respect for the media in a pointed contrast to U.S. President Donald Trump, whose latest Twitter blast labeled mainstream outlets ?the enemy of the American people.??I stand by a free and independent press and have great respect for journalists,? Merkel said at an international security conference in Munich with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence in the audience.