Jeffrey Caplan
President Donald Trump held a rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Wednesday and wasted no time getting into campaign mode. And that meant attacking this country’s television and print media outlets.
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“We will never be intimidated by the dishonest media corporations who will say anything and do anything to get people to watch their screens or to get people to buy their failing papers,” said the President of the United States, a man well-known for watching hours of cable news and who has declared the media to be the enemy of the people.
Trump, feeling emboldened by the Republicans’ victory in the special congressional election in Georgia that saw Karen Handel edge out out Democratic upstart Jon Ossoff, blasted the media’s coverage of the election and suggested media outlets were making up excuses for Ossoff’s defeat.
“This phony NBC television network — they actually had one of the people say, ‘It was a little rainy last night. Maybe that was the difference in Karen’s race,'” Trump said. “Can you believe that?”
Trump then moved his speech to healthcare, telling the crowd that hopefully a great plan will be passed. But he also made sure to use the opportunity to again degrade the media. He said he had to watch his words carefully because the media would take any opportunity to say that he is lying.
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“I have to be a little careful because they will say, ‘He lied,'” Trump said. “They will say, ‘Headline: Donald Trump lies to the people of Iowa.’ I don’t want that.”
Trump also used his decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement as another chance to discredit American media outlets.
“It’s amazing how the people of this country get it, because the press covers it so unfairly,” Trump said.
