Trump says he might not be president if ‘it wasn’t for Twitter’
President Donald Trump acknowledged during a Wednesday interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson that social media helped get him elected.
“Well, let me tell you about Twitter. I think that maybe I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Twitter because I get such a fake press, such a dishonest press,” Trump said to Carlson when asked if the president talks to anyone before he posts on Twitter. Trump then attacked the press for its coverage of his administration and took a shot, again, at the The New Celebrity Apprentice (though this time without mentioning former host Arnold Schwarzenegger by name).
“I mean, if you look at — and I’m not including Fox because I think Fox has been fair to me. But if you look at CNN and if you look at these other networks, NBC… I made a fortune for NBC with The Apprentice. I had a top show where they were doing horribly, and I had one of the most successful reality shows of all time. I made … and I was on for 14 seasons. And you see what happened when I’m not on. You saw what happened to the show, it was a disaster. I was on — I was very good to NBC, and I — they are despicable. They’re despicable in their coverage. CBS, ABC, you take a look at what’s going on — I call it the fake press, the fake media. It is a disgrace what’s happening.”
As Trump explained, he uses his social media platforms to create his “own form of media.”
“Some of the press — by the way, some of the finest people I know are reporters. Reporters are wonderful. I’m talking about the fake media, the fake news,” Trump added. “And there’s a lot of fake news. So if I’m not going to — if they’re not going to do me the honor and the public the honor of spreading my word accurately as it was meant, and you know exactly what I’m talking about, because there’s been nobody in history that got more dishonest media than I’ve gotten. So, when I can reach, whether it’s 90 million or 100 million or 80 million, however many people it may turn out to be, when you add everything up — and then of course it gets disseminated from there — when I can reach that many people, Twitter is a wonderful thing for me, because I get the word out.”
Trump’s feud with Schwarzenegger has kept going, despite the fact that Trump is now President of the United States. Last month, after Schwarzenegger announced he will be leaving the reality series as host after one season, Trump claimed on Twitter that Schwarzenegger was “fired.”
“Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t voluntarily leaving the Apprentice, he was fired by his bad (pathetic) ratings, not by me. Sad end to great show,” he wrote on Twitter.
