Donald Trump Rips TV News Chiefs, Accuses Lester Holt Of “Fudging” 2017 Interview
President Donald Trump set aside his complaints about tech companies and foreign leaders, at least for the moment, to return to his comfort zone of blasting the TV news business.
In three morning tweets (which followed a re-tweet of a Breitbart News post explaining Kanye West’s loyalty to Trump), the president said the “hatred and extreme bias of me by @CNN has clouded their thinking and made them unable to function.” The tweets cast a wide net, including “fake books” written about him.
Zeroing in on CNN boss Jeff Zucker, he added, “Little Jeff Z has done a terrible job, his ratings suck. & AT&T should fire him to save credibility!”
He also ripped into NBC News, anchor Lester Holt and president Andy Lack. “The good news is that Andy Lack(y) is about to be fired (?) for incompetence, and much worse,” Trump tweeted.
He also said Holt “got caught fudging my tape on Russia.” It wasn’t immediately clear what he was implying about the May 2017 NBC interview, one of the most problematic of his presidency, in which he casually admitted to firing former FBI director James Comey on air because he took part in the Russia investigation. Some far-right media outlets often claim that footage aired on mainstream news networks has been falsified through the use of special effects, though a one-on-one interview would be pretty difficult to fake. The tweet cited no evidence behind the claim.
NBC News declined to comment when reached by Deadline.
The diet of TV news this week is likely not easing Trump’s mind, especially extensive memorial coverage of his longtime foe, Sen. John McCain. The week began (was it really this same week??) with a storm of criticism facing Trump over the decision to raise the flag at the White House and refuse to offer any remembrance of McCain’s military service or character.
Here are the tweets:
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 @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. 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
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