CNN fired back at President Trump after he directed his ire toward the network in a series of early morning tweets.
“CNN is not dying. But Americans are. Focus on that and leave television ratings to us,” the network’s PR department tweeted on Wednesday after Trump alleged that host Chris Cuomo’s “ratings are down more than 50%. People are tired of his act. @CNN IS DYING!”
Trump has mocked Cuomo by referring to him as “Fredo,” a reference to the character Fredo Corleone, the weaker and less savvy brother from The Godfather.
CNN is not dying. But Americans are. Focus on that and leave television ratings to us. https://t.co/aDDl6cUIVD
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) June 3, 2020
Despite the president’s criticism, which he previously voiced on Tuesday, the network touted a historic month of May as six of its programs, including Cuomo Prime Time, broke ratings records. Jake Tapper, Wolf Blitzer, Erin Burnett, Anderson Cooper, Don Lemon, and Cuomo all topped their previous ratings records for the month of May, according to the network.
Cuomo’s show averaged 1.9 million viewers last month, and the program “grew the most in cable news in all of prime this month among total viewers, increasing +104% and had an impressive +120% growth among adults 25-54.” However, Sean Hannity of Fox News and Rachel Maddow of MSNBC, both of whom have shows during Cuomo’s time slot, outpaced him. Hannity eclipsed 4 million viewers a night last month, while Maddow topped 3 million on average, according to Nielsen Media Ratings.
The president also repeated his long-standing criticisms of CNN and MSNBC for their coverage, specifically saying that their reporting on the protests following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died in police custody, was unfair.
“You would think that the killers, terrorists, arsonists, anarchists, thugs, hoodlums, looters, ANTIFA & others, would be the nicest, kindest most wonderful people in the Whole Wide World,” he wrote.
If you watch Fake News @CNN or MSDNC, you would think that the killers, terrorists, arsonists, anarchists, thugs, hoodlums, looters, ANTIFA & others, would be the nicest, kindest most wonderful people in the Whole Wide World. No, they are what they are – very bad for our Country!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 3, 2020
CNN’s note that U.S. citizens are dying is likely referencing the more than 105,000 people who have died of the coronavirus, according to the Centers for Disease Control, while also pointing to the civil unrest.
