White House says Trump ‘strongly condemns’ video attacking media

The White House on Monday said President Donald Trump “strongly condemns” a gruesome fake video that depicts him shooting members of the news media and political rivals, which was shown at his Florida resort.

But, aides said, he had not seen it and planned to view it “shortly.”

“Re: the video played over the weekend: The @POTUS @realDonaldTrump has not yet seen the video, he will see it shortly, but based upon everything he has heard, he strongly condemns this video,” the White House spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, said in a Twitter post Monday morning.

Trump, who has been posting on Twitter about other topics Monday — including wishing his former press secretary good luck on his appearance Monday evening on Dancing with the Stars — has not mentioned or condemned the video himself.

The video was played at a conference for Trump’s supporters at Trump National Doral Miami last week. The New York Times on Sunday obtained footage of the video, which the event organizer, American Priority, said was part of a “meme exhibit.”

The group said the video was not “approved, seen or sanctioned” by the conference organizers, and it criticized the Times for focusing on the video and not on any of the other events, “including our panel conversation LITERALLY condemning political violence.”

While Trump did not address the video specifically Monday morning, he did take aim at one of his favorite political targets who was among those featured in the video — Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Schiff is one of three committee chairmen overseeing an impeachment inquiry into Trump.

The video appears to be adapted from a 2014 dark comedy, Kingsman: The Secret Service and portrays the inside of the “Church of Fake News.” A character with a superimposed image of Trump’s head on a body opens fire in the church. The parishioners have the faces of his critics or the logos of media organizations.