Trump claims CNN 'is bad for the USA' as he praises new AT&T investor
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump praised Monday a new AT&T investor, which owns the company that CNN is under, saying that hopefully the new shareholder will "put a stop to all of the Fake News."
Elliott Management, a top activist shareholder firm, announced Monday that it has a $3.2 billion stake in AT&T. WarnerMedia, which owns CNN, is under AT&T.
"Great news that an activist investor is now involved with AT&T. As the owner of VERY LOW RATINGS @CNN, perhaps they will now put a stop to all of the Fake News emanating from its non-credible 'anchors,'" Trump claimed in a tweet. "Also, I hear that, because of its bad ratings, it is losing a fortune."
"But most importantly, @CNN is bad for the USA," the president continued in a follow-up tweet. "Their International Division spews bad information & Fake News all over the globe. This is why foreign leaders are always asking me, 'Why does the Media hate the U.S. sooo much?' It is a fraudulent shame, & all comes from the top!"
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In a letter to AT&T Monday, Elliott said that it wants to sell several of the company's businesses that were "distractions that have contributed to the Company’s recent operational underperformance," including DirecTV.
Matt Dornic, vice president of communications for CNN Worldwide, pushed back against Trump's tweet.
"In case you hear differently, CNN is having its most profitable year in history," he wrote in a tweet. "Last month the network delivered its highest August ratings on record and won the prime time demo - beating both Fox and MSNBC."
In case you hear differently, CNN is having its most profitable year in history. Last month the network delivered its highest August ratings on record and won the prime time demo - beating both Fox and MSNBC. 🤦🏻♂️
— Matt Dornic (@mdornic) September 9, 2019
Trump has repeatedly railed against the media, in particular, CNN. However, it is unclear what caused the president's tweets.
CNN published an exclusive report Monday that claims a one of the United States' "highest-level covert sources inside the Russian government" was extracted from Russia in 2017. The move came shortly after Trump discussed highly classified intelligence with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and then-Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak during an Oval Office meeting in May 2017, CNN reported.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump praises new AT&T investor, continues to criticize CNN
