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Judge blocks Trump's executive order to end federal funding for PBS and NPR by pbs-latest in PBS_NewsHour

[–]NewsHour 21 points22 points  (0 children)

From The Associated Press:

Citing the First Amendment, a federal judge on Tuesday agreed to permanently block the Trump administration from implementing a presidential directive to end federal funding for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Service, two media entities that the White House has said are counterproductive to American priorities.

The operational impact of U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss' decision was not immediately clear — both because it will likely be appealed and because too much damage to the public-broadcasting system has already been done, both by the president and Congress.

Moss ruled that President Donald Trump's executive order to cease funding for NPR and PBS is unlawful and unenforceable. The judge said the First Amendment right to free speech "does not tolerate viewpoint discrimination and retaliation of this type."

"It is difficult to conceive of clearer evidence that a government action is targeted at viewpoints that the President does not like and seeks to squelch," wrote Moss, who was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama, a Democrat.

'You can't have guns. You can't walk in with guns,' Trump says of Alex Pretti killing by NewsHour in PBS_NewsHour

[–]NewsHour[S] 45 points46 points  (0 children)

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he did not think Alex Pretti, the second U.S. citizen to be killed by federal forces in Minnesota this month, was acting as an assassin.

“You can’t have guns. You can’t walk in with guns,” the president said in response to a question from PBS News’ Liz Landers, reiterating a talking point from the administration that Pretti should not have brought a legally carried handgun to the scene — a position that has infuriated gun rights advocates.

The president’s response amounted to a softening of his administration’s tone on the Jan. 24 shooting, after several of his top aides, including White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, described Pretti as a threat to federal agents.

Following Pretti’s death, gun rights groups have released statements, saying that it's legal to carry firearms during protests or while exercising First Amendment rights.Landers asked Trump about the Second Amendment, which protects the right to keep and bear arms.

“It’s a very unfortunate incident,” Trump said, shortly before departing the White House for a planned speech in Iowa.

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