‘Salivating!’ Former WaPo Editor Says Trump Team Can’t Wait to Use ‘Toolbox’ of Methods to Hurt, Undermine, ‘Prosecute’ The Press

Pulitzer Prize winning former editor for the Washington Post Marty Baron warned Saturday that president-elect Donald Trump and his incoming administration are “salivating” over the chance to “prosecute” and persecute the press.

Baron joined CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour for an interview on Saturday morning where the pair discussed their concerns regarding the continued protection of press freedom under the incoming administration.

President-elect Donald Trump’s recent FBI nominee Kash Patel has previously vowed to prosecute journalists who supported President Joe Biden in the aftermath of the 2020 election.

Baron, was with WaPo for nearly a decade, told the anchor that the administration will utilize different tools to silence opposition journalists, including by revoking licenses for stations with major networks.

AMANPOUR: So lay out how you think the next administration can come after us. I mean, it is us in the big sense. What tools can they use?

BARON: Yeah, well, I think sure, they have a lot of tools in their toolbox and I think they will use every single one of them. That’s already evident from the measures that they are promising to take. I think they are salivating for the opportunity to prosecute journalists for leaks of supposed national security information.

I think that they’ve already threatened to revoke the licenses for stations affiliated with the over some of the major networks. They are already, as you mentioned, are likely to sue a lot of a lot of media outlets for supposed defamation and other supposed offenses.

I suspect a lot of the wealthy allies of Donald Trump will underwrite those those lawsuits. I suspect that they will deny information to major media outlets routinely. I suspect that they will threaten advertisers from major media outlets as well.

So, they will do everything to undermine public confidence in the press, to further undermine public confidence in the press and undermine its economic sustainability.

Watch the clip above via CNN.