Trump on Establishment Media: “Truth Doesn’t Matter to Them”
President Trump unleashed a tweet salvo directed at the “dishonest” mainstream media, specifically targeting the heads of CNN and NBC News, whom he christened “Little Jeff Z” and “Andy Lack(y),” respectively.
Trump asserted that both men are unfit for their positions, and reiterated his charge on Thursday morning that a large portion of corporate media is an “enemy of the people.”
“The hatred and extreme bias of me by CNN has clouded their thinking and made them unable to function,” Trump wrote in his first tweet of the day. “But actually, as I have always said, this has been going on for a long time. Little Jeff Z has done a terrible job, his ratings suck, and AT&T should fire him to save credibility!”
The hatred and extreme bias of me by @CNN has clouded their thinking and made them unable to function. But actually, as I have always said, this has been going on for a long time. Little Jeff Z has done a terrible job, his ratings suck, & AT&T should fire him to save credibility!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 30, 2018
“What’s going on at CNN is happening, to different degrees, at other networks – with NBC News being the worst. The good news is that Andy Lack(y) is about to be fired(?) for incompetence, and much worse. When Lester Holt got caught fudging my tape on Russia, they were hurt badly!”
What’s going on at @CNN is happening, to different degrees, at other networks - with @NBCNews being the worst. The good news is that Andy Lack(y) is about to be fired(?) for incompetence, and much worse. When Lester Holt got caught fudging my tape on Russia, they were hurt badly!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 30, 2018
“I just cannot state strongly enough how totally dishonest much of the media is,” the president wrote at the conclusion of his anti-MSM barrage. “Truth doesn’t matter to them, they only have their hatred & agenda. This includes fake books, which come out about me all the time, always anonymous sources, and are pure fiction. Enemy of the people!”
I just cannot state strongly enough how totally dishonest much of the Media is. Truth doesn’t matter to them, they only have their hatred & agenda. This includes fake books, which come out about me all the time, always anonymous sources, and are pure fiction. Enemy of the People!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 30, 2018
Trump’s attack came just hours after he blasted journalist Carl Bernstein, who is currently embroiled in a crisis of credibility over an article he co-authored for CNN that has been roundly attacked as “very fake news” by a politically-diverse group of critics.
CNN is being torn apart from within based on their being caught in a major lie and refusing to admit the mistake. Sloppy @carlbernstein, a man who lives in the past and thinks like a degenerate fool, making up story after story, is being laughed at all over the country! Fake News
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 29, 2018
“CNN is being torn apart from within based on their being caught in a major lie and refusing to admit the mistake,” Trump tweeted Wednesday night. “Sloppy Carl Bernstein, a man who lives in the past and thinks like a degenerate fool, making up story after story, is being laughed at all over the country! Fake News.”
Glenn Greenwald picked apart Bernstein’s story in a piece at The Intercept titled CNN, Credibly Accused of Lying to its Audience About a Key Claim in its Blockbuster Cohen Story, Refuses to Comment.
“CNN’s blockbuster July 26 story – that Michael Cohen intended to tell Special Counsel Robert Mueller that he was present when Donald Trump was told in advance about his son’s Trump Tower meeting with various Russians – includes a key statement about its sourcing that credible reporting now suggests was designed to have misled its audience,” Greenwald wrote. “Yet CNN simply refuses to address the serious ethical and journalistic questions raised about its conduct.”
The Washington Post has also cast doubt on Bernstein’s reporting, asking, “. . . Bernstein’s latest blockbuster story has come under heavy fire, beset by a troubling question: Is it accurate?”
Bernstein, who recently asserted that supposed scandals in the Trump presidency are “worse than Watergate,” responded to the President, citing his career record as a journalist and declaring that he stands by his reporting for the questionable CNN story.
