PREZ BLASTS PRESS
President Trump gleefully disparaged the White House press corps — dismissing their stories as “fake news” and critiquing individual media outlets, in a combative news conference that one Republican operative hailed as a masterpiece exposing an increasingly self-indulgent Fourth Estate.
“Anywhere the Acela train doesn’t stop, it was looked at as a tour de force,” said GOP strategist Dave Carney. “The media in that room has to be kicking themselves. They haven’t figured out how to dent him. It was just a really good reset for Trump.”
Trump tried to regain command of his administration after the forced resignation of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn by beating up on his favorite target — the Beltway media.
After the nearly 90-minute press conference, carried live and uninterrupted on all the major broadcast and cable channels, Trump will try to get out an unfiltered message with a campaign-style rally in Florida tomorrow.
Carney said Trump’s presser will resonate with Americans who feel that Washington political reporters have lost touch with voters. “The rest of the country couldn’t care less what The New York Times thinks,” Carney said.
“People aren’t fixated on the ins and outs of which reporter he has a back and forth with, which is why the White House Correspondents Dinner has become such an ostentatious, self-congratulatory orgy over the last few years. They’ve become the story.”
Trump played media critic during much of the press conference, even lecturing them about credibility. “The public doesn’t believe you people anymore,” he said. “You’ve got to be at least a little bit fair and that’s why the public sees it. They see it’s not fair.”
Trump singled out the so-called “failing” New York Times and a “disgraceful” Wall Street Journal story. He praised “Fox and Friends” as the “most honest morning show,” but dismissed the BBC as being “just like CNN.”
Trump said he was downgrading his rating of the Atlanta-based cable giant from “fake news” to “very fake news,” then took shots at specific programming.
“You look at your show that goes on at 10 o’clock in the evening. That is a constant hit. The panel is almost always exclusive anti-Trump. The good news is he doesn’t have good ratings,” Trump said, referring to host Don Lemon. Trump at one point paused to relish in the media-bashing. “I’m actually having a very good time,” Trump said.
Afterward, the president either bombed or scored a knockout blow, depending on the news outlet.
“77 MINUTE MELTDOWN,” blared the Huffington Post with eight different headshots of Trump, calling the presser “chaotic” and “unsteady.”
“PRESS BEATDOWN” declared FoxNews.com, which described it as “free-wheeling” and played up that Trump “teased and lambasted” reporters.
He followed up the dramatics with a campaign email blast, asking the public if news outlets, including MSNBC, CNN and Fox News, report fairly on his administration, which issues the media cover worst and whether the press can be trusted to tell the truth on GOP positions.