In a press conference convened to unveil his pick for labor secretary, President Trump downgraded CNN from “fake news” to “very fake news.”
Trump: CNN is “very fake news” https://t.co/Sbc4OcRudg pic.twitter.com/k00M3yXNLq
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) February 16, 2017
The change in status came during an exchange between the president and CNN Senior White House Correspondent Jim Acosta.
Acosta was prefacing a follow-up question when he said, “Just because of the attack of fake news and attacking our network,” when Trump interrupted him.
“I’m changing it from fake news,” Trump said. “Very fake news.”
Trump’s quip was greeted with laughter from Acosta and other reporters in the room. The president himself smiled and told Acosta to “go ahead,” as the laughter died down.
Trump spent a significant portion of the news conference slamming the media, at one point declaring, “The press has become so dishonest that if we don’t talk about it, we are doing a tremendous disservice to the American people.”
“The level of dishonesty is out of control,” he said.
Emily Jashinsky is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
