President Trump said CNN and MSNBC got “scammed” when they dedicated extensive coverage to an anti-Trump rally after the 2016 election, which the special counsel indictment last week said was organized by Russians.
“Bad ratings @CNN & @MSNBC got scammed when they covered the anti-Trump Russia rally wall-to-wall,” Trump tweeted Tuesday. “They probably knew it was Fake News but, because it was a rally against me, they pushed it hard anyway. Two really dishonest newscasters, but the public is wise!”
Bad ratings @CNN & @MSNBC got scammed when they covered the anti-Trump Russia rally wall-to-wall. They probably knew it was Fake News but, because it was a rally against me, they pushed it hard anyway. Two really dishonest newscasters, but the public is wise!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 21, 2018
Trump appears to be referring to a study by NewsBusters, which is an arm of the Media Research Center, and seeks to expose liberal media bias.
The event was mentioned in special counsel Robert Mueller’s indictment on Friday, which alleged 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities meddled in the 2016 presidential election.
The indictment says Russian groups created posts, ads, and organized events on social media platforms by using names of Americans and other entities. Shortly after the 2016 election, the defendants, along with their co-conspirators and two “ORGANIZATION-controlled groups,” organized two protests, one of which was called “Trump is NOT my President” in New York.
According to the NewsBusters report, CNN and MSNBC provided hourly updates on the rally while Fox News provided only a brief recap between noon and 5 p.m.
Mueller is investigating if collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin occurred during the 2016 election.
Trump has historically called Mueller’s probe a “witch hunt” and, in light of the Russian indictments, has continued to reiterate that “no collusion” ever happened.
However, Mueller’s investigation has yet to wrap up.
