The First Amendment

Fact:
The president of our country takes an oath to uphold the constitution.  The exact words are "..and to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States."  The first amendment to the constitution says "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." 

Fact:
The current president made the following comments recently at a speech to the VFW convention in Kansas City, MO.  "Don't believe the crap you see from these people, the fake news..What you're seeing and what you're reading is not what's happening."  He has called the media the "enemy of the people'. He has tweeted that "Our Country's biggest enemy is the Fake News so easily promulgated by fools!"  The list of attacks by the president against the media are long.  

Fact:
The White House banned a reporter from attending an open press event because the reporter earlier in the day asked "inappropriate" questions during a press conference with the United States president and the European Commission president.     

Fact:
In the last few months I have heard a number of people that say they no longer believe anything in the media.  They think the president is correct in tweeting out his message directly to the people.   

Fact:
The explosion of social media, hackers, trolls bots, foreign adversaries etc has exponentially increased the lies, misinformation, propaganda and actual fake news in the media world.  

Questions:
Is the president upholding the first amendment with the constant attacks on the media?  Is the president exploiting the explosion of actual fake news that is so prevalent on-line?  Is exploitation a presidential duty?  Does the president have the right to ban press members that ask questions he doesn't like?       

Conclusion:
Facts and truth exist and they matter.  The president of our country has a duty to support the freedom of the press.  The near daily attacks on the press is, in my mind, a failure to uphold the responsibilities of the office.