President-elect Trump’s low approval ratings can be chalked up to fights with the media, a Wisconsin congressman said Tuesday.
Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., said on CNN Trump’s contentious relationship with the press is a major reason why a poll from that network shows him with a 40 percent approval rating. That’s less than half of President Obama’s approval rating at the same time.
“The public fight Mr. Trump is having with CNN and other media groups is taking some skin off his poll numbers,” Duffy said.
Duffy also said blame lies with the intelligence community, which he alleged has been leaking information to the press about Trump almost since the day the election finished.
Trump has been at odds with the intelligence community since the campaign and accuses intelligence officials of leaking information about him to the press. His initial reluctance to believe the intelligence community’s assessment that Russia is responsible for hacks into the Democratic National Committee’s email system caused tension in the relationship.
Duffy said the intelligence community is leaking like a sieve as Trump enters the White House.
“I have real concern about what the intelligence community has been doing to put top secret information out in the press,” he said.
Duffy said he doesn’t believe the leaks have come from politicians who were briefed on Trump’s potential relationship with the Russian government.
“These are professionals who get all kinds of intelligence and they know the consequences of leaking it,” he said. “These people are elected, they’re accountable to their constituents whereas the intelligence community is not.”
