Tapper Hits Trump Over Recent CNN Attacks: ‘He Hates That Which is Honest and Ethical’
This past weekend, President Donald Trump tweeted out yet another attack on CNN. This time, however, he took aim at CNN International, stating that the network a “major source” of fake news to the rest of the world and is a poor representative of the United States.
Following the president’s tweet, CNN PR responded by stating it wasn’t the network’s job to represent the country, stating it was the president’s. Meanwhile, CNN senior media correspondent Brian Stelter pointed out the coincidental timing of the president’s tweet, noting it came shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into a law a measure that would punish foreign media outlets. Other CNN personalities have also weighed in on POTUS’s latest attacks.
This afternoon, anchor Jake Tapper touched on the president’s recent assaults against his network. Besides discussing the tweet against CNN International, Tapper brought up Trump’s Twitter post from earlier today in which the president called for a contest to award a “FAKE NEWS TROPHY.”
After The Lead host explained that Trump’s criticism of CNN’s international correspondents was false as they are doing “important” and “dangerous work,” Tapper pointed out that the president did find time to praise one outlet’s coverage — MAGAPill.com. Noting that the site is riddled with anti-Semitic content and conspiracy theories, the anchor snarked that this is “the website the president seemingly supports.”
“There may, however, be more here than one man’s insatiable coverage for glowing coverage,” he added. “This seems at least in part to undermine accountability for him and his administration. But attacking the press is not going to stop us from reporting that which he does not like to have covered.”
Following a breakdown of recent stories surrounding the special counsel probe into Russian election meddling, Tapper then ended his segment with the following remarks:
“The president does not care for us reporting these facts and seems that he does not want you to believe these facts. The president said he wanted to give an award based on which network is the most, quote, dishonest, corrupt, and/or distorted, but his problems with journalism seem to be rooted in the exact opposite. He hates that which is honest and ethical and precise. Ask yourself, why might that be.”
Watch the clip above, via CNN.
[image via screengrab]
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