President Donald Trump wants to award news outlets a “fake news trophy” for what he perceives as “dishonest” and “corrupt” media coverage of him.
In a bizarre Monday tweet, Trump said he believes there should be a contest where news outlets like ABC, NBC, CNN—but not Fox News—compete to see who has the most “dishonest, corrupt and/or distorted” coverage of “your favorite President (me).”
The winner of this imaginary contest would receive the “fake news trophy” that could be proudly displayed among other awards. Trump did not specify how the contest would be carried out or who or what would determine the winner of the trophy.
“We should have a contest as to which of the Networks, plus CNN and not including Fox, is the most dishonest, corrupt and/or distorted in its political coverage of your favorite President (me). They are all bad. Winner to receive the FAKE NEWS TROPHY!” Trump wrote.
We should have a contest as to which of the Networks, plus CNN and not including Fox, is the most dishonest, corrupt and/or distorted in its political coverage of your favorite President (me). They are all bad. Winner to receive the FAKE NEWS TROPHY!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2017
Trump’s fixation on so-called “fake news” is nothing new. He constantly bashes the press and at one point labeled members of the media the “enemy of the American people.”
The president routinely lashes out at news organizations for coverage of him. Only in rare instances have news outlets retracted stories about Trump, so it appears that any news about him that he doesn’t like qualifies as “fake.”
Last month, Trump urged Congress to investigate U.S. media outlets to see “why so much of our news is just made up-FAKE!”
While Trump’s war against the media might fire up some members of his base, it doesn’t seem to be as powerful as it once was. A poll last month by Reuters and Ipsos found that 48 percent of Americans had a “great deal” or “some” confidence in the media, up from 39 percent in November following Trump’s election.
Public Policy Polling also tweeted out that Americans tend to trust the main media networks over Trump.
Who do trust more, Donald Trump or:
— PublicPolicyPolling (@ppppolls) November 27, 2017
ABC. ABC, 54/36
CBS. CBS, 54/36
NBC. NBC, 54/36
New York Times. New York Times, 54/37
CNN. CNN, 52/37
Washington Post. Washington Post, 52/37 https://t.co/XIY6vnb1i7