A Writer for 'Teen Vogue' Tries to Trademark 'Fake News' so Trump Can't Say it Anymore

President Donald Trump gestures towards members on the media on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2019, after returning from United Nations General Assembly. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Donald Trump gestures towards members on the media on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2019, after returning from United Nations General Assembly. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

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Teen Vogue isn’t exactly a bastion of conservatism.

If you’d like to see some credentials, the magazine aimed at young girls came under fire in 2017 when it published a tutorial on anal sex (here).

And there’ve also been these RedState peeks:

WATCH: YouTube And ‘Teen Vogue’ Attack Thanksgiving (And You)

Ghoul Alert: ‘Teen Vogue’ Instructs Young Girls On How To Get Abortions – Without Parental Consent

Teen Vogue Is Now Promoting Prostitution To Its Young Female Readers

Science: Teen Vogue Declares There Is No Such Thing As Biological Sex Because Reasons

Those are, of course, more cultural than political, but they surely leave you unsurprised that a writer for TV is less than a fan of Donald J. Trump.

And Emily Bloch has a plan: Trademark the term “fake news” so the Commander-in-Chief can’t say it anymore.

Via an article published in the teen mag Tuesday, she announced that the Florida Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists has applied for the trademark.

Here’s what Emily — who’s president of the group — had to say:

Along with several of my colleagues, we’re trying to stop Trump from calling everything he doesn’t like “fake news” in a way that even a businessman as self-obsessed as Trump can understand: trademark law. The Florida Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists— one of America’s oldest and largest journalism advocacy groups — applied to trademark the term “fake news” with the intended goal of curbing Trump’s frequent use of it to discredit stories he doesn’t like.

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She doesn’t know if she’ll be able to make the trademark happen, but she can at least inundate the White House with letters:

It’s uncertain that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will grant our request, but as long as this trademark’s pending, we’ll use this opportunity to send cease and desist letters to frequent abusers of the term — including Trump, of course. He should’ve already received our first one today.

And she’ll get people to thinkin’:

For what it’s worth, we don’t expect the trademark to get approved. No one can really trademark a generic term like “fake news,” which started being used long before Trump even took office. What we do hope is that this idea is outrageous enough to get people to stop and think about what fake news is, and what it means to them.

As for being able to trademark a “generic term,” didn’t Paris Hilton trademark “That’s hot”? And as for it having been used for a long time, Gene Simmons laid legal claim to the money bag.

Lastly, as for it leading people to a revelation, it won’t. Whatever Americans already think about “fake news,” they’re going to continue thinking it.

But Emily believes you’re all confused.

She explains in a sample letter to Trump:

Referring to factual stories that are critical of your administration as FAKE NEWS (TM pending) is indeed trademark infringement. You may not be aware, but your misuse of the term FAKE NEWS (TM pending) has greatly confused the American people and shaken their trust in the journalism that’s so vital to our democracy.”

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It seems to be a hip thing when decrying The Donald to reference the preservation of democracy. That strikes me as odd, since the criticism seems to never relate to representation by vote, which, of course, is what democracy is.

Or maybe I just can’t take a joke, which is what the the letters to the President will be:

Since it’s clear Trump has no plans to stop saying “fake news,” anytime soon — just look at his recent Twitter history — I’m personally looking forward to sending letters and tweets his way anytime he violates our pending trademark.

“If you fail to comply with our request, we may pursue legal action,” we wrote in the closing of our first letter to Trump. “But of course, this is satire — which is very different than what you refer to as ‘fake news.’ It might be asking too much for you to realize the difference.”

Like recognizing the difference between trusting the media and being able to vote?

Oh, well. I wish them luck in their trademark pursuits. But there is bad news: If Trump were to stop saying it, he’d just say something different that means the same thing. It’s the meaning of the words that matter, not the words themselves.

And people don’t trust the media, not because they’re mindless goons following the syllables of their Supreme Leader, but because of what the media actually says and does.

And the media trying to keep Donald Trump from saying something bad about…the media will — guess what — only make people not trust the media.

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Footshot, complete.

As for the root of the fake news problem, perhaps the source lies somewhere in the vicinity of this:


-ALEX

 

Relevant RedState links in this article: here and here.

See 3 more pieces from me:

A Television Icon Laments America’s Divide, But There’s A Greater Lesson – A Forgotten One We Learned Long Ago

Beto Continues His Mad Dash For Abject Failure, Calls On Banks To Refuse Credit Card Use For 2nd Amendment Purchases

The NRA Pulls No Punches In Its Strike Against Walmart’s New Anti-Gun Policy

Find all my RedState work here.

And please follow Alex Parker on Twitter and Facebook.

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