Amal Clooney takes aim at Trump: He’s given the ‘green light’ for torture, murder of journalists

Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney on Wednesday took aim at President Trump over his rhetoric on the media.

Speaking at the United Nations Correspondents Association Awards, Clooney said that Trump has had a “chilling effect” worldwide by emboldening autocracies to punish journalists.

“The U.S. president has given such regimes a green light and labeled the press in this country the ‘enemy of the people,’” Clooney said, according to Vanity Fair.

{mosads}Clooney, who was being honored as the group’s 2018 Global Citizen of the Year, also referenced Jamal Khashoggi, the dissident journalist who was killed in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul this year.

Trump has faced intense criticism for casting doubt on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s involvement in the killing, despite reported consensus from intelligence agencies and senators from both parties.

He has also repeatedly attacked networks, newspapers and individual reporters throughout his presidency, labeling negative coverage of his administration as “fake news.” 

Clooney, who has spoken out against Trump in the past, earlier this year joined the legal team representing two Reuters journalists who have been held in prison in Myanmar for nearly a year. 

She and her husband, actor George Clooney, have championed a number of progressive causes and donated half a million dollars to the youth-led gun control effort March for Our Lives.