President Trump proudly held the front pages of a pair of the nation’s leading newspapers over his head before he delivered a speech at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington.
“ACQUITTED” read the six-column banner headline atop Thursday’s USA Today.
“GOP-LED SENATE CLEARS PRESIDENT ON BOTH COUNTS,” a subhead on the cover of the Washington Post displayed.
Trump smiled and pumped his fist as he displayed the headlines in front of a room of thousands of lawmakers, lobbyists, and faith leaders from around the world.
“Well, thank you very much. I’m working very hard for you, I will tell you, and sometimes, you don’t make it easy, and I certainly don’t make it easy on you,” Trump said during his remarks.
“Everyone here is united by a shared conviction: We know that our nation is stronger, our future is brighter, and our joy is greater when we turn to God and ask him to shed his grace on our lives,” he continued. “On Tuesday, I addressed Congress on the state of the union and the great American comeback — that’s what it is.”
Thursday’s @washingtonpost front page, for history pic.twitter.com/GJHO0AS7UF
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) February 6, 2020
The Senate acquitted Trump Wednesday on a near party-line vote, clearing him of the abuse of power and obstruction of Congress charges from the House.
Trump has from the start called his impeachment a “hoax” led by “angry” Democrats aided by their allies in the “fake news media.”
He has singled out reporters at the Washington Post and canceled the White House subscription to the print edition of the newspaper.
“What they’ve done is they’ve really, all the media. I call it the fake news, and it is fake news — so much of it,” Trump said during an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Sunday. “And a lot of the fakeness is they don’t want to report the good stuff.”
