Trump Blames Mass Shootings on the Media: ‘Fake News Has Contributed Greatly to the Anger and Rage’

Colby HallAug 5th, 2019, 7:43 am
 

Donald Trump
Minutes after a call for political unity to pass legislation in the wake of two deadly mass shootings, President Donald Trump pointed his finger at the media, blaming “Fake News” for the massacres.

Trump’s tweet argues there is great “anger and rage that has built up over many years” in the United States, but that the “Fake News has contributed greatly.”

Trump added that “News coverage has got to start being fair, balanced and unbiased or these terrible problems will only get worse!”

29 innocent Americans are dead after mass shootings that occurred within hours from one another over the weekend. The first, at a Wal-Mart in El Paso, Texas, was carried out by a shooter who allegedly left behind an anti-immigrant screed warning of a “Hispanic invasion” threatening American jobs.

Many have noted the similarities between the manifesto and Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric, though the shooter claimed he held his views before Trump’s presidency.

The shooter’s alleged manifesto did, however, include a Trumpian condemnation of “fake news.”

“I know that the media will probably call me a white supremacist anyway and blame Trump’s rhetoric,” the shooter wrote. “The media is infamous for fake news. Their reaction to this attack will likely just confirm that.”

Trump’s recent tweet echoes a tweet he sent roughly a year ago:

So, one year ago he called the media the “enemy of the people,” and now, after a spate of deadly mass shootings,  he’s putting the wanton killing of innocents at their feet.
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Colby Hall - Founding Editor

Colby Hall is the Founding Editor of Mediaite.com. He is also a Peabody Award-winning television producer of non-fiction narrative programming as well as a terrific dancer and preparer of grilled meats.