Besieged Trump lashes out at mainstream media: ‘The enemy of the American People!’
President Trump posted an inflammatory tweet Friday calling the news media “the enemy of the American People.”
“The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!” he declared from South Florida, where he is staying for the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 17, 2017
He had previously tweeted, and quickly deleted, a similar message, which read: “The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @CNN, @NBCNews and many more) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American people. SICK!”
The new post included more mainstream news organizations.
Trump’s latest attack against the press came after Thursday’s feisty marathon press conference, in which the president aired a host of grievances over how the media has been covering his White House. He also blasted the press for reporting on a string of leaks coming out of his administration. “The leaks are absolutely real. The news is fake,” he proclaimed during the news conference.
Both Trump and his chief strategist, Steve Bannon, have taken to referring to the press as “the opposition party.”
Complaints of unfair coverage were a common theme of Trump’s campaign and have ramped up since he took office as his administration faces highly publicized obstacles, including action by the courts to stymie his controversial travel ban and the resignation of his national security adviser following revelations about communications with Russia.
