“Fake News Is Not Essential!”: Donald Trump Shares Video Of Protesters Berating Long Island News Reporter

Ted Johnson
·2 min read

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President Donald Trump shared a Long Island news reporter’s video in which he was berated by protesters demonstrating stay-at-home orders. In a tweet, Trump also wrote on of the chants from the demonstrators, “Fake News Is Not Essential!”

Trump typically attacks the media as “fake news,” but it is typically aimed at national news outlets that are his targets.

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The video had been posted by Kevin Vesey, a reporter for News 12, a 24-hour news network in Long Island, NY. He was covering the demonstrators at a protest on Thursday, but found himself the source of their attacks. At least one of the demonstrators in the video had a Trump banner, and others had campaign hats and shirts.

“I’ll probably never forget what happened today,” Vesey wrote. “I was insulted. I was berated. I was practically chased by people who refused to wear masks in the middle of a pandemic. All the while, I was there to tell THEIR story. Here’s the finished product.” Vesey said that he had the coronavirus and has since recovered, but said that he continues to wear a mask when in public.

Vesey later explained what happened in a lengthier video chat. He had been capturing the protest for Facebook Live, in addition to covering the protest for the news channel. He said that he grew up in the Commack, NY, area and said, “This certainly is not indicative of everyone from that area.”

After Trump’s tweet, Vesey wrote, “unreal.”

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