US President tells CBS White House Correspondent: "You're a disgrace...you're a fake and you know you're a fake"
Donald Trump's war with the mainstream media intensified last night, as he denounced networks including CNN as "fake news" for their coverage of his response to the Coronavirus pandemic.
At an extraordinary briefing in the situation room of the White House, President Trump played journalists a video apparently showing the 'decisive action' he has taken since January to combat the spread of Covid-19 in the United States. When asked by a journalist why he had felt the need to play what appeared to resemble a 'campaign video', the President said news networks had been promoting 'fake news' about his response. The video began by stating that the media 'minimised the risk from the start' in contrast to the President's 'decisive action'.
When questioned about the discrepancies between what was depicted in the video and the reality of Trump's response, the President labelled CBS journalist Paula Reid as 'disgraceful' and added: 'You're a fake and you know you're a fake'.
The press conference received international coverage, with #TrumpMeltdown soon trending on the social networking site Twitter. CNN - a network Trump routinely criticises for its coverage of his leadership - accused the President of trying to 'rewrite history' on his coronavirus response by producing propaganda videos praising what Trump called "decisive action".
CNN and MSNBC cut away from the press conference after Donald Trump began playing the campaign-style video accusing the media of downplaying the coronavirus.
Trump would later retweet several clips from Fox News - his favourite TV news network - in which commentators defended the President and denounced the mainstream media.
Just yesterday, he had denounced the New York Times as a 'fake paper' and 'fake news' for its coverage of his response to the pandemic. He tweeted that he was 'working hard' to expose 'the corruption and dishonesty in the lamestream [mainstream] media'.
Donald Trump is fighting two wars - the war on the coronavirus and his war on the media. He is reportedly paranoid about media coverage of his Presidency, and infuriated when he does not receive glowing coverage on the TV news and in the press. He is known for denouncing any story which does not represent him in a favourable light as 'fake news' and regularly using Twitter - posting multiple times a day - to denounce media coverage of his decisions and political choices.
With a presidential election on the horizon, Trump is determined to ensure re-election, and his fight against the mainstream media is only set to intensify. He appears to believe he can spin his way to success at the ballot box. But will he succeed?
How might this pandemic affect the President's approval ratings, and will he manage to place the blame for the pandemic on his favourite scapegoat of all time - the mainstream media?
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