Trump brands media 'true enemy of the people' just days after pipe bomb scare at CNN offices
Donald Trump has once again branded the mainstream media the "enemy of the people", just days after a pipe bomb was sent to CNN's offices and 11 people were shot dead at a synagogue in Pittsburgh.
"There is great anger in our Country caused in part by inaccurate, and even fraudulent, reporting of the news," the US president wrote on Twitter. "The Fake News Media, the true Enemy of the People, must stop the open & obvious hostility & report the news accurately & fairly."
"That will do much to put out the flame of Anger and Outrage and we will then be able to bring all sides together in Peace and Harmony. Fake News Must End!"
Last week, at least 13 packages containing explosive devices were sent to a number of prominent critics of the president, including former president Barack Obama, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and actor Robert de Niro. One was also addressed to CNN's offices in New York.
Cesar Sayoc, A 56-year-old supporter of Mr Trump, was later arrested in connection with the incidents.
On Friday night, Mr Trump accused the media of trying to use the "sinister acts of one individual" to “score political points” against him and the Republican party.
President Trump vs the press
Show all 15
President Trump vs the press
1/15 "You are fake news!"
Then President-elect Trump directed this insult to CNN's Jim Acosta while refusing him a question at a press conference on January 11 2017. The President-elect's anger was due to the publishing of unverified memos that implicated Michael Cohen in Russian collusion by Buzzfeed. CNN had reported on a briefing of Obama and Trump on the memos by US intelligence chiefs, but knowing the content to be unverified had not revealed it
AFP/Getty
2/15 "They are among the most dishonest human beings on earth"
President Trump said this of journalists during a visit to the CIA on the the day following his inauguration. His claim of having the largest crowd of any inauguration ceremony in history had been debunked and he clearly wasn't happy
Reuters
3/15 "Failing New York Times"
President Trump commonly addresses the New York Times in this way, contrary to its increasing profit margins and expanding global readership. He is pictured here in the midtown Manhattan offices of the paper
Getty
4/15 "Enemy of the American People"
President Trump has since repeated the claim that such news outlets are the enemy of the people, often after they break negative stories about him
5/15 "They have no sources"
Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference on February 24 2017, President Trump suggested that a Washington Post article with 9 sources was "made up". The article in question exposed how then National Security Advisor Michael Flynn had misled Vice President Mike Pence over a phone call to a Russian ambassador. That the article was "made up", while highly doubtful at the time, seems even less likely since Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about the same phone call
Reuters
6/15 Access denied for major publications
Protesters gathered outside of the New York Times office after Trump's White House barred a number of publications from attending a press briefing on February 24 2017. Just hours after the President had again denounced the media, then Press Secretary Sean Spicer denied access to news outlets such as CNN and the New York Times, while permitting Breitbart News, CBS, Fox and others
AFP/Getty Images
7/15 "#FNN"
On July 2 2017, President Trump tweeted an edited clip from his Wrestlemania XXIII appearance in which the CNN logo had been imposed onto the face of his wrestling opponent Vince McMahon. CNN is a common target for President Trump and here he suggests that he is getting the better of the network through his repeated attacks
8/15 "The most powerful TV show in America"
On July 27 2017, President Trump quoted a New York Times article about Fox & Friends. The President is known to watch Fox & Friends every morning, often tweeting about matters discussed on the show, leading to speculation over its influence on his outlook and policies
Getty Images
9/15 "It's frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write"
In a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on October 11 2017, President Trump suggested that the press ought not to be allowed their constitutionally secured freedom. He added "people should look into it", suggesting that he also doesn't respect the protection of sources. At the time, he was angry at an NBC report claiming that the President had expressed a desire to return the size of the US' nuclear arsenal to its 1960s height, a claim that he and others in his administration dismissed as fake news
AFP/Getty
10/15 "negative (Fake)"
In a tweet on 9 May 2018, President Trump conflated negative reporting about him with fake news
11/15 "I didn't criticise the Prime Minister"
In a press conference with the Prime Minister on his visit to Britain, President Trump disputed claims published in the Sun that he had criticised Mrs May's Brexit strategy
Reuters
12/15 "Horrible, horrendous people"
At a Republican rally in Pennsylvania on August 3 2018, President Trump deemed all journalists in attendance "horrible, horrendous people". He later denounced the "fake, fake, disgusting news" for falsely reporting that he was late to his meeting with the Queen when visiting Britain
AFP/Getty
13/15 Trump's rhetoric "very close to inciting violence"
In an interview with the Guardian on 13 August 2018, the outgoing UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein suggested that President Trump's attacks on the press are "very close to inciting violence". Zeid singles out the President's repeated claim that the fake news (negative coverage) media is the "enemy of the people" as dangerous
Reuters
14/15 "anonymous source" = fiction
President Trump claimed that any report citing anonymous sources is fiction. The protection of sources is a vital matter of press freedom, as without it a potential source's fear of repercussions could lead them to withhold important information
15/15 "I would never kill Journalists"
For any journalists frightened by President Trump's attacks on the press, perhaps you can take solace in his words from a campaign rally in Grand Rapids on December 21 2015. Responding to remarks over Vladimir Putin's handling of journalists, Trump stated: "I hate some of these people, but I'd never kill them... I'll be honest - I would never kill them. Uhhh lets see.. no, I never would"
Getty
1/15 "You are fake news!"
Then President-elect Trump directed this insult to CNN's Jim Acosta while refusing him a question at a press conference on January 11 2017. The President-elect's anger was due to the publishing of unverified memos that implicated Michael Cohen in Russian collusion by Buzzfeed. CNN had reported on a briefing of Obama and Trump on the memos by US intelligence chiefs, but knowing the content to be unverified had not revealed it
AFP/Getty
2/15 "They are among the most dishonest human beings on earth"
President Trump said this of journalists during a visit to the CIA on the the day following his inauguration. His claim of having the largest crowd of any inauguration ceremony in history had been debunked and he clearly wasn't happy
Reuters
3/15 "Failing New York Times"
President Trump commonly addresses the New York Times in this way, contrary to its increasing profit margins and expanding global readership. He is pictured here in the midtown Manhattan offices of the paper
Getty
4/15 "Enemy of the American People"
President Trump has since repeated the claim that such news outlets are the enemy of the people, often after they break negative stories about him
5/15 "They have no sources"
Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference on February 24 2017, President Trump suggested that a Washington Post article with 9 sources was "made up". The article in question exposed how then National Security Advisor Michael Flynn had misled Vice President Mike Pence over a phone call to a Russian ambassador. That the article was "made up", while highly doubtful at the time, seems even less likely since Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about the same phone call
Reuters
6/15 Access denied for major publications
Protesters gathered outside of the New York Times office after Trump's White House barred a number of publications from attending a press briefing on February 24 2017. Just hours after the President had again denounced the media, then Press Secretary Sean Spicer denied access to news outlets such as CNN and the New York Times, while permitting Breitbart News, CBS, Fox and others
AFP/Getty Images
7/15 "#FNN"
On July 2 2017, President Trump tweeted an edited clip from his Wrestlemania XXIII appearance in which the CNN logo had been imposed onto the face of his wrestling opponent Vince McMahon. CNN is a common target for President Trump and here he suggests that he is getting the better of the network through his repeated attacks
8/15 "The most powerful TV show in America"
On July 27 2017, President Trump quoted a New York Times article about Fox & Friends. The President is known to watch Fox & Friends every morning, often tweeting about matters discussed on the show, leading to speculation over its influence on his outlook and policies
Getty Images
9/15 "It's frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write"
In a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on October 11 2017, President Trump suggested that the press ought not to be allowed their constitutionally secured freedom. He added "people should look into it", suggesting that he also doesn't respect the protection of sources. At the time, he was angry at an NBC report claiming that the President had expressed a desire to return the size of the US' nuclear arsenal to its 1960s height, a claim that he and others in his administration dismissed as fake news
AFP/Getty
10/15 "negative (Fake)"
In a tweet on 9 May 2018, President Trump conflated negative reporting about him with fake news
11/15 "I didn't criticise the Prime Minister"
In a press conference with the Prime Minister on his visit to Britain, President Trump disputed claims published in the Sun that he had criticised Mrs May's Brexit strategy
Reuters
12/15 "Horrible, horrendous people"
At a Republican rally in Pennsylvania on August 3 2018, President Trump deemed all journalists in attendance "horrible, horrendous people". He later denounced the "fake, fake, disgusting news" for falsely reporting that he was late to his meeting with the Queen when visiting Britain
AFP/Getty
13/15 Trump's rhetoric "very close to inciting violence"
In an interview with the Guardian on 13 August 2018, the outgoing UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein suggested that President Trump's attacks on the press are "very close to inciting violence". Zeid singles out the President's repeated claim that the fake news (negative coverage) media is the "enemy of the people" as dangerous
Reuters
14/15 "anonymous source" = fiction
President Trump claimed that any report citing anonymous sources is fiction. The protection of sources is a vital matter of press freedom, as without it a potential source's fear of repercussions could lead them to withhold important information
15/15 "I would never kill Journalists"
For any journalists frightened by President Trump's attacks on the press, perhaps you can take solace in his words from a campaign rally in Grand Rapids on December 21 2015. Responding to remarks over Vladimir Putin's handling of journalists, Trump stated: "I hate some of these people, but I'd never kill them... I'll be honest - I would never kill them. Uhhh lets see.. no, I never would"
Getty
Then, over the weekend, 11 worshippers at a synagogue in Pittsburgh were shot dead by a gunman who allegedly later told police he wanted to kill Jews.
Mr Trump condemned the antisemitic attack as a “wicked act of mass murder” and "pure evil", but claimed it had "little to do" with lax US gun laws and said the "results" would have been "far better" if the synagogue had had armed security.
Minutes after his fresh attack on the press, Mr Trump tweeted to announce his "very good" conversation with the newly-elected far-right president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro.
Noting Mr Bolsonaro won by a "substantial margin", the president said: "We agreed that Brazil and the United States will work closely together on Trade, Military and everything else! Excellent call, wished him congrats!"
Mr Trump has repeatedly denigrated US media since his election as president in 2016.
Over the summer, he retweeted a video showing supporters at one of his rallies booing a CNN reporter and chanting "fake news". In 2017, the 72-year-old tweeted an animation of himself wrestling a CNN logo to the floor.
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