Tag: CNN

Twitter labels video tweeted by Trump as ‘manipulated media’

Twitter labeled a video tweeted by President Donald Trump on Thursday night as “manipulated media” because it attributes to news media a nonexistent story on race.

The video depicts a fake CNN headline that states, “TERRIFIED TODDLER RUNS FROM RACIST BABY,” as a Black toddler runs ahead of a white toddler in the same direction and ominous music plays.

The video then displays the words, “WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED,” and shows the original clip of two children running toward each other on a sidewalk before embracing as Harry Connick Jr.’s version of the Carpenter’s “Close to You” plays.

“AMERICA IS NOT THE PROBLEM,” the video proclaims. “FAKE NEWS IS.”

“IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING,” it says. “ONLY YOU CAN PREVENT FAKE NEWS DUMPSTER FIRES.”

The video of the toddlers went viral on social media last year. On CNN it was presented as what it was — a look at a friendship between two toddlers, identified as Maxwell and Finnegan.

“With all the racism and hate going on I just think it’s a really beautiful video,” Maxwell’s father, Michael Cisneros, said in a video CNN posted online and labeled as being from WPIX television in New York City.

CNN responded Thursday night to Trump’s post, saying on Twitter, “CNN did cover this story — exactly as it happened. Just as we reported your positions on race (and poll numbers). We’ll continue working with facts rather than tweeting fake videos that exploit innocent children. We invite you to do the same. Be better.”

The video tweeted by Trump appears to be watermarked Carpe Donktum, a Trump-supporting creator who has made other manipulated content. It comes as Trump faces criticism over his response to weeks of protests over the in-custody death of George Floyd.

[NBC News]

Trump Campaign Demands CNN Retract, Apologize for Poll Showing Joe Biden Leading

President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign demanded that CNN retract and apologize for a poll that showed Democratic candidate Joe Biden leading by 14 points. The campaign sent a cease and desist letter to CNN President Jeff Zucker Wednesday. The network immediately rejected the president’s demand. “We stand by our poll,” CNN spokesman Matt Dornic said.

In addition to showing Biden with a lead of 55 percent to 41 percent over Trump, the poll found the president’s approval rating to be 38 percent, the lowest it has been since January 2019, and his disapproval rating to be 57 percent. Trump tweeted Monday that he had hired Republican pollster McLaughlin & Associates to “analyze” the CNN poll, which he called fake. McLaughlin is regarded one of the least accurate pollsters.

[Daily Beast]

Update

CNN on Wednesday dismissed a demand from the Trump 2020 campaign that it withdraw a poll as “factually and legally baseless” and the type of threat that has “typically come from countries like Venezuela.”

Trump Declares Brutal CNN Poll ‘FAKE’, Says He’s Retained Another Pollster to Analyze It

President Donald Trump continued to rail against a new CNN poll showing him trailing Joe Biden, sharing a statement from “highly respected pollster” McLaughlin & Associates.

The new poll from CNN shows Biden 14 points ahead of Trump — 55 to 41 — and puts the president’s approval rating at 38 percent.

This morning Trump called CNN polls “as Fake as their Reporting”:

But hours later, the president tweeted again about the “FAKE” poll, this time sharing a statement from McLaughlin & Associates and saying, “I have retained highly respected pollster, McLaughlin & Associates, to analyze todays CNN Poll (and others), which I felt were FAKE based on the incredible enthusiasm we are receiving.”

The statement the president shared says in part, “The latest skewed media polls must be intentional. It’s clear that NBC, ABC and CNN who have Democrat operatives like Chuck Todd, George Stephanopoulos and other Democrats in their news operations are consistently under-polling Reppublicans and therefore, reporting biased polls… Ths bias seems to be an international strategy to suppress your vote.”

The president’s latest tweet about polling got a fair amount of social media attention, with reporters calling out his use of McLaughlin in particular:

[Mediaite]

Trump blasts Fox News, says he wants an “alternative” network

President Trump tore into Fox News in a series of tweets on Sunday night, claiming that he has “no respect” for the network’s leadership and that it “keeps on plugging to try and become politically correct.”

Why it matters: It’s the latest chapter in Trump’s love-hate relationship with the network. While he continues to praise and live-tweet several of his favorite Fox News shows, the president has taken a more critical overall tone toward the outlet in recent months.

What he’s tweeting:

“@FoxNews just doesn’t get what’s happening! They are being fed Democrat talking points, and they play them without hesitation or research. They forgot that Fake News @CNN & MSDNC wouldn’t let @FoxNews participate, even a little bit, in the poor ratings Democrat Debates.

Even the Radical Left Do Nothing Democrats laughed at the Fox suggestion. No respect for the people running @FoxNews. But Fox keeps on plugging to try and become politically correct. They put RINO Paul Ryan on their Board. They hire ‘debate questions to Crooked Hillary’ fraud @donnabrazile (and others who are even worse).

Chris Wallace is nastier to Republicans than even Deface the Nation or Sleepy Eyes. The people who are watching @FoxNews, in record numbers (thank you President Trump), are angry. They want an alternative now. So do I!”

Between the lines: Trump has evidently found the “alternative” he’s calling for in One America News Network. He has repeatedly praised the network’s coverage of his administration and has offered favorable treatment to its reporters.

  • Trump tweeted earlier this month: “Watching @FoxNews on weekend afternoons is a total waste of time. We now have some great alternatives, like @OANN.”

[Axios]

White House Tried To Move CNN Reporter To Back Of Briefing Room Before Trump Walked Out

President Donald Trump is not a fan of CNN.

He clashes almost daily with reporters from the liberal cable network, and he once had a White House pass pulled from a reporter, Jim Acosta.

Trump got into another battle with the network last week — and lost.

A White House official on Friday ordered a CNN reporter to swap her front-row seat with another reporter at the back of the briefing just before Trump appeared for his daily press conference with the White House Coronavirus Task Force.

The reporter, CNN White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins, refused to swap seats, as did the other reporter. The official then said the Secret Service would get involved.

The seating chart in the briefing room is set by the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA), currently headed up by ABC’s Jonathan Karl, another reporter Trump doesn’t like.

Chris Johnson, a reporter with the Washington Blade, sent out a print pool report to other reporters detailing what happened.

“Earlier today before the briefing, a White House official instructed the print pooler to take CNN’s seat in the briefing room because the seating would be swapped for the briefing. Given the seating assignment is under the jurisdiction of the White House Correspondents’ Association, not the White House, pooler refused to move. The White House official then informed the print pooler swapping wasn’t an option and the Secret Service was involved. Again, pooler refused to move, citing guidance from the WHCA. The briefing proceeded with both CNN and print pooler sitting in their respective assigned seats,” Johnson wrote.

Friday’s briefing marked the first time Trump had held the briefing and then left without taking questions.

Other reporters applauded the pair for fighting back.

“We just got word the briefing will begin in one minute. Reporters were not moved. Shout out to @chrisjohnson82 @kaitlancollins and the @whca for standing their ground,” wrote Hunter Walker, White House correspondent with Yahoo News.

Trump had clashed with Collins just the day before. In his briefing Thursday, Trump dismissed a question from a reporter about North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un’s health, saying it arose from an “incorrect” report from CNN. Collins tried to ask a follow-up question, but Trump interrupted her.

“No, that’s enough,” he said. “The problem is, you don’t write the truth.” Collins tried to ask again, but Trump said, “No, not CNN. I told you, CNN is fake news. Don’t talk to me.”

Acosta’s press pass was revoked in November 2018 after a press conference held by Trump. The White House rebuked Acosta for “placing his hands on a young woman” after he refused to give up the microphone, pushing a White House intern’s hand away as she tried to take back the microphone.

“As a result of today’s incident, the White House is suspending the hard pass of the reporter involved until further notice,” Press Secretary Sarah Sanders wrote on Twitter, adding a video when she said, “We stand by our decision.”

Acosta sued and got his pass back.

[Daily Wire]

‘You don’t have the brains you were born with’: Defensive Trump goes off on CNN reporter

President Donald Trump unleashed on CNN as a reporter was asking why he comes out to talk about being praised by governors when people are dying.

“You’re CNN. You’re fake news!” Trump shouted. “You don’t have the brains you were born with.”

He went on to attack the reporter again later in the press conference when he asked additional questions about whether Trump was duped by the Chinese. Trump said that he wasn’t, it was former President Barack Obama that was duped by China.

He then went off on how the Obama administration left him high and dry on tests for the coronavirus. COVID-19 is named “19” because it was discovered in 2019. Obama was out of office on Jan. 20, 2017.

[Raw Story]

Trump Blows Up at CNN Reporter Grilling Him for Self-Praise After More Than 40,000 Coronavirus Deaths: ‘You People are So Pathetic!’

President Donald Trump repeatedly stormed at CNN reporter Jeremy Diamond for questioning his self-praise while the coronavirus continues to ravage the country.

During his latest press conference at the White House, Trump read praise of himself from the Wall Street Journal and played two clips of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo offering positive comments about the federal response. These clips were cherry-picked, however, for Trump declined to roll any footage of Cuomo calling for greater federal action on the crisis, nor the governor’s requests for more health resources.

When Diamond got to ask his question, he started off by noting that the U.S. has now exceeded 40,000 deaths from the virus. To that point, Diamond asked Trump “can you explain why you come out here and you are reading clips and showing clips of praise for you and your administration? Is this really the time for self-congratulations?”

Trump claimed to have been directing praise to the health workers on the front lines of treating the pandemic, but Diamond noted that “the clip you played and what your read earlier was praising you.”

As Diamond once again brought up the 40,000 dead Americans, Trump switched gears to call the reporter “fake news” and said “they were excoriated by people like you who don’t know any better because you don’t have the brains with you were born with.”

“It’s not about me. Nothing is about me,” Trump grumbled.

“You are never going to treat me fairly, many of you, and I understand that. I don’t know, I got here with the worst more unfair press treatment in the history of the United States for president. They did say Abraham Lincoln had very bad treatment too.”

As Trump continued to wax on about he’s “remaking the playbook,” there was a moment when he said there were “almost 40,000” deaths, which prompted Diamond to note that it’s over 40,000.

“Oh, more than. Okay. Good. Correct me,” Trump said in sarcastic bitterness. After touting that the body count could’ve been worse, he bashed Diamond again by saying “you just don’t have the sense to understand what’s going on.”

Later in the press conference, Diamond drew Trump’s ire again when he brought up the president’s past praise for China’s coronavirus response and asked “were you duped by President Xi?” Trump deflected by responding “you and the Obama Administration” were the duped ones, and then he digressed into his trade dealings with China.

After Trump steamrolled over Diamond’s follow-up questions and claimed “nobody was tougher before the deal ever on China than Trump,” he said “you people are so pathetic at CNN” and then shifted into attacking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

As Trump moved on despite Diamond’s efforts, he ended it with “your ratings are so bad because you are pathetic. Your ratings are terrible. You have got to get back to real news.”

[Mediaite]

Trump slams Fox News: ‘What the hell is happening’ over there?

Not even Fox News is safe from President Trump’s Twitter finger these days.

After Fox News host Chris Wallace on Sunday brought up the notion, as reported by the New York Times, that more lives could have been saved if only the president had reacted more decisively to the coronavirus outbreak, Trump blasted him and the network in this tweet:

Later, Wallace went on to ask former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer about the president’s briefings, saying that while Trump initially got “high marks,” he’s lately been “getting into fights with governors he did not think were sufficiently appreciative or reporters.”

This isn’t the first time Trump has bashed Wallace, whom the president said will never live up to his father’s legacy and should go work for one of the “fake news” networks:

Previously, Wallace shrugged off the attacks by saying he wouldn’t let them get in the way of his reporting. “Generally speaking, I think it is an indication that you’re doing your job,” he said. “I mean I’m not in this to make friends. I am in this to do the best reporting that I can do.”

After Trump’s critical tweet, “Chris Wallace” began trending on Twitter

Media

Trump lashes out at networks, newspapers: All I see is ‘hatred of me’


President Trump late Sunday lashed out at much of the media over their coverage of his administration’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, claiming that all he’s seen is “hatred of me.”

“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], and all I see is hatred of me at any cost,” Trump said on Twitter. 

“Don’t they understand that they are destroying themselves?” he asked. 

Trump has regularly attacked the press since entering the White House, often referring to reporters as “fake news” and the “enemy of the people.” Last week, Trump railed against an NBC reporter, calling him “terrible,” after being asked what he’d say to Americans who are scared. 

His tirade against the group of news outlets came after a day in which several state and federal lawmakers called on the president to use his authority to help health systems being overwhelmed by a surge of patients. 

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) said on CNN that states were overpaying for medical equipment and were being forced to compete with each other for much-needed resources. Rather than a competition, it “should have been a coordinated effort by the federal government,” he said. 

“It’s a wild, wild West out there, and indeed [we’re] overpaying for [personal protective equipment] because of that competition,” Pritzker said. 

Trump railed against Pritzker and CNN just hours later, tweeting that they “shouldn’t be blaming the Federal Government for their own shortcomings.”

Pritzker tweeted in response that Trump “wasted precious months when you could’ve taken action to protect Americans & Illinoisans.”

“Get off Twitter & do your job,” Pritzker said. 

Speaking at a White House briefing on Sunday, Trump said that he would reject calls to ramp up production of critical medical supplies through the use of the Defense Production Act.

He said that he’s used the law as a source of leverage in negotiations with companies to persuade them to manufacture equipment, but he contended that it would nationalize industries and that he was not in favor it. The Defense Production Act does not nationalize industry, but it does allow the government to direct private businesses to make certain supplies. “We’re a country not based on nationalizing our business. Call a person over in Venezuela,” Trump told reporters. “How did nationalization of their businesses work out? Not too well.”

[The Hill]

Pence: ‘I don’t think there’s confusion’ after clarifications to Trump’s coronavirus address

Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday dismissed suggestions that there was confusion surrounding President Donald Trump’s address to the nation about coronavirus despite the administration having to later make clarifications about travel restrictions.

“I don’t think there’s confusion,” Pence, who is leading the administration’s response to the crisis, told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota on “New Day” Thursday. But he was unable to provide figures on how many Americans have been tested for the virus, which has been a key question as the crisis has spread throughout the country and disrupted everyday life.

Speaking to the nation Wednesday night, Trump announced that “all travel from Europe to the United States” would be banned for 30 days beginning Friday, with exceptions for the United Kingdom. After Trump’s remarks, the administration clarified that the travel restriction did not apply to Americans or US permanent residents, nor did it apply to all of Europe but to nations in the Schengen zone.

Trump was also forced to clarify he was not blocking goods from Europe, despite saying in his address that his ban would “apply to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo” across the Atlantic.

On CNN Thursday, Pence elaborated on the travel restrictions, saying that Americans coming home will be funneled through 13 different airports, where they will be screened for the novel coronavirus. Americans and legal residents returning to the US will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days, Pence said.

“We’ve recognized, our health experts tracking global data, that the epicenter of the coronavirus has shifted from China and South Korea to Europe,” the vice president said.

Pence also defended the administration’s handling of testing for the virus. The availability of test kits to health care providers has been one of the most scrutinized aspects of the federal government’s response to the crisis, leading to frustrations from state and local officials, and there has been confusion among Trump administration officials over the number of testing kits that have been mailed out.

Pence said he didn’t believe the numbers of tests being performed were declining, despite what was listed on the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website in recent days.

Asked how many tests have been done, Pence replied, “Well, I would leave that to the experts.”

As of Monday, public health labs in all 50 states and Washington, DC, are able to test for novel coronavirus, according to the CDC. But the vice president said Thursday it’s “going to take a few more days” to make commercial testing for COVID-19 widely and readily available for the general public.

“The overall recommendation to Americans is to use common sense, practice good hygiene, and keep a special eye on seniors with chronic underlying health conditions,” Pence said.

Speaking to CNN’s John Berman on “New Day” on Tuesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar also was unable to say how many Americans have been tested.

As of Thursday morning, there have been 38 deaths and over 1,200 cases of coronavirus in the United States, according to CNN’s tally.

[CNN]

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