CNN Vs. Trump: The ‘Fake News’ Debacle Escalates
It’s no secret that when it comes to Donald Trump’s politics, the Cable News Network has it covered. Since well before November’s election, CNN has made sure to touch on every aspect of the candidate-turned-president’s actions and policies. As of late, the public feud between the two has reached new heights.
According to the New York Post, today’s press conference allowed another opportunity for the two to go head-to-head: this time in the form of CNN’s White House Correspondent Jim Acosta and CNN President Jeff Zucker. At the event, Trump questioned how Zucker even “got his job” and asked Acosta to pass on this question to Zucker. In an interesting back-and-forth between the two, Acosta stood his ground and asked the president how the stories about the now-infamous Russian leaks could be fake if “the information coming from those leaks is real.” Trump countered this by revealing that the trouble lies in the general public not being aware of what is true or false because they “are not involved.” He also took the opportunity to claim that the media was full of “anger” and “hatred” leading them to becoming very untruthful sources of information.
Afterward, Zucker took the opportunity to fight back by debunking the idea that Trump’s “fake news” tirades had hurt the network’s ratings. According to Zucker, the ratings are doing just fine and are actually way up in recent weeks.
This clash at the press conference comes just after yet another Twitter diss by Mr. Trump directed at CNN.
The fake news media is going crazy with their conspiracy theories and blind hatred. @MSNBC & @CNN are unwatchable. @foxandfriends is great!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 15, 2017
This is just the latest in a series of recent events that has their public feud at an all-time high. Trump has long claimed that CNN (among others) is “fake news” and hasn’t been shy about encouraging people to get their news elsewhere. In return, CNN hasn’t held back from holding the president accountable for actions they believe to be questionable at best and downright terrifying at worst. Zucker even made sure to note that the actions of blocking websites and trying to filter those who speak the truth is “an attack on freedom of the press everywhere.” Also, Trump demanded an apology from all the news outlets that he considers to be “fake,” but CNN will not likely jump at the chance to give him one anytime soon.
Donald claims that major news outlets rely on “leaks” or “anonymous sources” leading to their total lack of credibility, something that CNN has been reporting on frequently in the past several days. In fact, the fall out from National Security Advisor Michael Flynn’s resignation (due to lying about phone calls he had with a Russian official) is due to the harsh treatment that Flynn received from the press, according to Trump.
In the president’s eyes, not all press is at fault, however. He remains an avid supporter of Fox News and usually endorses the network to differentiate them from other major news channels. He considers the Fox and Friends program to be the “most honest” morning show.
In other noteworthy moments, apart from attacking CNN and the mainstream media, Trump also falsely claimed at the press conference that he won the electoral college vote by the biggest margin since Ronald Reagan, USA Today reports, and brought up the travel ban, which he sTate’s had a successful “roll out” that was plagued by “bad courts.”
This tension is not likely to let up anytime soon. And with the political climate becoming more divisive every day, this definitely won’t be the last chapter of their incredibly high-profile feud.
Whose side of this debate are you on? Sound off in the comments section below.
[Featured Image by Mario Tama/Getty Images]
