President Trump on Monday lashed out at the media, targeting The Washington Post in particular, as he remained fixated on coverage of his ongoing attacks on four progressive congresswomen.
In a series of tweets, the president claimed the “Mainstream Media” has “gone bonkers” and accused the media of pushing “Radical Left Democrat views.”
“It has never been this bad,” Trump tweeted. “They have gone bonkers, & no longer care what is right or wrong. This large scale false reporting is sick!”
“Fake News Equals the Enemy of the People!” he added.
For a second straight day, Trump pushed back on a Washington Post story recounting the fallout of his incendiary tweets targeting Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ayanna Pressley. He went on to decry “fake news” as “the Enemy of the People.”{mosads}
Trump took issue with a line of The Washington Post piece that said advisers wrote out talking points and handed the president “reams of opposition research on the four Congresswomen.”
“Now really, does that sound like me? What advisors, there were no talking points, except for those stated by me, & ‘reams of paper’ were never given to me,” Trump tweeted. “It is a made up story meant to demean & belittle. The Post had no sources.”
“The facts remain the same, that we have 4 Radical Left Congresswomen who have said very bad things about Israel & our Country!” he added.
In fact, a Post photographer captured a photo of Trump at a White House event last week with sheets of paper containing bullet points of information about Omar and the other representatives.
The president followed up his criticism of the Post story with broader condemnation of the press, accusing it of pushing “Radical Left Democrat views.”
The president frequently describes coverage he deems unfavorable as “fake news,” and has regularly labeled certain media outlets the “enemy of the people” despite warnings from press advocates about the danger of the term.
Trump has been preoccupied for days on the media coverage of his attacks on the four congresswomen, which began with tweets eight days ago saying the lawmakers should “go back” to their countries despite all four being U.S. citizens.
Only Omar, who came to the U.S. as a Somali refugee, was born outside the U.S.
Trump has escalated his attacks in the days since, claiming repeatedly that the lawmakers hate the country and defending supporters who chanted “send her back” about Omar as “incredible patriots.”