Katy Tur was an NBC reporter based in London when she was asked to abruptly leave everything and come follow the Trump presidential campaign. She was a highly experienced reporter, yet unknown. She wrote about the campaign in her 2017 book, “Unbelievable.” For me, it was a very fun read.
But there were disturbing parts. During rallies, with reporters confined to a “press cage” of bicycle fences and surrounded by thousands of Trump supporters, Trump would rain down condemnation on the press. “Little Katy” Tur was a favorite target. He would call her out by name, point to her, and call her a liar and a “third rate reporter.” People en masse would turn to her and shout their insults and curses.
She was a young, single woman being targeted amidst a very hostile crowd. “Inside, I’m terrified,” she wrote. “Men are standing on their chairs to get a look at me. They want to see me as they jeer.”
Her Mom sent frantic texts, fearing for her safety. Trump staffers, recognizing the danger Trump had put her in, asked Secret Service agents to escort Katy and her crew to their vehicles. This is what Katy and other reporters, just doing their job, endured every day. And it happened only because of Donald Trump. Nothing like this had ever happened before.
The abuse continued online, from both Trump and his supporters. Tur, a definite target, wrote, “They call me ugly and dumb. They accuse me of sleeping my way to my job. They go after my family, and especially my father, who is transgender. They call me a c**t. They threaten my life. The longer this campaign goes on, the more I expect them to take their online rage into the real world.” One time, in front of Trump Tower, a Trump supporter screamed abuse at her and then spit in her face.
The crowd behavior kept growing uglier, the yelling more abusive. One time, the crowd chanted, “Drop dead, media! Drop dead, media!” For much of the campaign, NBC provided armed protection to all of its employees covering the Trump campaign, both at the rallies and outside of them. This had never been needed in a presidential campaign.
Trump continued calling out Katy Tur by name. One time, security had to stop people trying to get to her. Another time, a CNN reporter sent a picture of a creepy bald man who wouldn’t stop saying her name, and told her to watch out for him.
Trump staffers assured Katy that Trump actually respected her work. One time, before the Access Hollywood tape surfaced, Trump entered a TV studio, walked right up to her, put his hands on her shoulders, and kissed her on the cheek (much to her anger). But for him, criticizing the press was a game, a crowd-pleaser. He got too much mileage out of it. But Katy Tur and others always feared that one crazy fan who didn’t realize it was just a schtick.
The targeting of Katy Tur continues. A couple weeks ago, she said the boos and taunts at rallies are only part of it. “What you do not see are the nasty letters or packages or emails, the threats of physical violence. ‘I hope you get raped and killed,’ one person wrote to me just this week. Not just me, but a couple of my female colleagues as well.”
This is happening only because President Trump continually incites it. More recently, he has amped it up with denunciations of the press as “the enemy of the people.” For the media targets, it’s not a game.
