Thin-skinned: Trump's attack on the media

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  The Economist Hi, John Prado here.

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  I host Checks and Balance, our podcast on US politics.

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  Welcome to Editors Picks.

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  Here's an article from the latest edition of The Economist, handpicked by our team and read aloud.

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  I hope you enjoy it.

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  Donald Trump hates being the butt of jokes,

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  so his henchmen seized on a slender pretext to get Jimmy Kimmel off late-night TV.

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  The president is fed up with being criticised when he should be fated,

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  so his lawyers sued the New York Times for $15 billion.

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  He sees everything as a fight,

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  so his team want wealthy allies to buy control of the American arm of TikTok from its Chinese parent.

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  These alarming skirmishes are part of a war against the American media,

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  yet Mr. Trump has hardly enjoyed a resounding success.

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  Mr. Kimmel is back on air, a federal judge laughed the lawsuit out of court,

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  and who knows how obedient those multi-billionaire tycoons will be.

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  It should not need saying in the home of the First Amendment,

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  but a craven press leads inexorably to rampant corruption,

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  poor government, and cynical, disaffected voters.

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  In a country where elections are won by small margins,

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  even a partially cowed or captured media could tip the scales.

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