Donald Trump once told his Twitter followers that reports of him watching 6-8 hours of cable news shows each day was a lie; he doesn’t really watch television and certainly has no interest in any “fake news,” whether it comes from television or newspapers. Yet somehow, he always knows what’s being said about him on those platforms.
Notice that Trump doesn’t specify which stories are untrue, just “almost everything.” Of course, Trump has also said that Fox News was the “most accurate” of all the cable news networks, so his judgment clearly cannot be trusted.
Trump is also endlessly hung up on ratings. For a reality television show, ratings are paramount. For a news network, being popular is not more important than telling the truth. Fox News may be cowed into submission when Trump blasts them on Twitter, quickly silencing those who are starting to see that the emperor has no clothes. For other news outlets, sticking to principles is the right thing to do, no matter how angry it makes the president. Tricking gullible viewers into believing lies and propoganda for money is Fox News’ strategy; respected news outlets put truth before ratings.
Of course, this is also a president who’s frustrated because he can’t just censor critical news outlets. His endless complaining about how unfair everyone is to him makes one wonder if he remembers his own words during the presidency of Barack Obama.
Twitter isn’t impressed by Trump’s complaints. Read some of their comments below:
Featured image via Flickr by Gage Skidmore under a Creative Commons license
