President Trump ripped major media outlets that he claims cover him negatively out of “hatred.”
“I watch and listen to the Fake News, CNN, MSDNC, ABC, NBC, CBS, some of FOX (desperately & foolishly pleading to be politically correct), the [New York Times] & the [Washington Post],” Trump tweeted late Sunday night. “[A]ll I see is hatred of me at any cost. Don’t they understand that they are destroying themselves?”
Trump added that Fox News is “desperately & foolishly pleading to be politically correct.”
I watch and listen to the Fake News, CNN, MSDNC, ABC, NBC, CBS, some of FOX (desperately & foolishly pleading to be politically correct), the @nytimes, & the @washingtonpost, and all I see is hatred of me at any cost. Don’t they understand that they are destroying themselves?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2020
The president did not mention any specific story or broadcast segment. He often ridicules the press corps and paints them as being out to get him. Trump has called the media “the enemy of the American people.”
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, Trump has been questioned by the media about his messaging and preparedness for what has become a national emergency.
Trump has repeatedly been asked to explain why he refers to the virus as “the Chinese virus” and pressed on whether he views such a description as racist.
“It’s not racist,” Trump said during a news conference last week. “It came from China, and I want to be accurate.”
Instead, Trump says he has not gotten enough credit from reporters and political pundits for acting “early” and banning travel to China in response to the virus arriving in the United States.
“We were very prepared. The only thing we weren’t prepared for was the media,” Trump said Thursday. “The media has not treated it fairly. I’ll tell you how prepared I was, I called for a ban.”
On Friday, Trump tore into NBC reporter Peter Alexander after he asked what Trump would say to Americans who are scared about the pandemic.
“I would say you’re a terrible reporter,” Trump responded. “I think that’s a very nasty question, and I think it is a very bad signal that you are putting out to the American people.”
