President Donald Trump posted a mock video on social media Sunday that shows him punching a man in a business suit whose face is covered by the logo of cable news channel CNN.
The clip, put together from a video of a stunt Trump was part of in a 2007 World Wrestling Entertainment telecast, was embedded in a tweet that had the message "#FraudNewsCNN #FNN. #FNN stands for “fake news network.”
The president has not backed away from the tweet which drew condemnation from Democrats, Republicans and journalists, and, in fact posted another tweet not long after that read, “The dishonest media will NEVER keep us from accomplishing our objectives on behalf of our GREAT AMERICAN PEOPLE! #AmericaFirst.”
The Associated Press reported that Bruce Brown, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, condemned the video as a "threat of physical violence against journalists." He said Trump's tweet was "beneath the office of the presidency."
"I think that no one would perceive that as a threat," homeland security adviser Tom Bossert said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” "I hope they don't. But I do think that he's beaten up in a way on cable platforms that he has a right to respond to." Bossert was shown the tweet for the first time as he appeared on the show.
Here’s what other media outlets are saying about Trump’s wrestling tweet.
Trump punches CNN in a juvenile tweet
“President Trump is wrestling with challenges both at home and abroad -- but on Twitter he's wrestling with CNN.
On Sunday morning the president's personal Twitter account, which has 33 million followers, posted a 28-second video of a WWE broadcast. The video was edited to show Trump beating up a man with a CNN logo on his face.
A short time later, the official @POTUS account retweeted Trump's tweet to its 19 million followers. It is one of the president's most-shared, most-retweeted posts ever.
Sunday marked another escalation in Trump's ongoing war against the news media -- and against CNN in particular.”
Media Horrified After Trump Tweets Video Body-Slamming CNN
“Journalists reacted in horror Sunday morning after President Trump tweeted a fake video that showed him body-slamming “fraud news” CNN in a fake wrestling match.
While many of the president’s supporters online reacted to the video with humor, the consensus among journalists seemed to be that Trump was inciting violence against the media.
“It is a sad day when the President of the United States encourages violence against reporters,” CNN said in a statement responding to the tweet.
ABC News’ chief political analyst Matthew Dowd claimed Trump is “advocating violence against media” and demanded Republican leaders “put country over party” in response to the fake video of fake wrestling.
Don't laugh at Donald Trump sharing that CNN wrestling video: at its core it is violent, frightening and wrong
“Big Daddy must be turning in his grave. So must every departed president of the United States. Donald Trump’s decision to tweet a video in which he wrestles against a man with a CNN logo for a head not only besmirches the US presidency, it reduces the art of professional wrestling to base politics.
As it goes, The Donald sounds like a potential wrestling identity. He would be a heel, naturally, but a fairly crappy one with terrible hair – the son perhaps of a retired great called “The Don”, who was genuinely talented but whose offspring crept onto the roster by nepotism alone.
If there was any justice in the world, the Undertaker would come out of retirement and dispatch him with a signature tombstone.
Truth being weirder than fiction, The Donald instead has slipped seamlessly from the ring and into the White House, where he keeps the planet amused on social media while simultaneously paying lip service to the real needs of Americans and to the country’s constitution.”
New outcry as Trump tweets mock video showing him beating up CNN stand-in
“First Lady Melania Trump has said that when her husband, Donald, is attacked, he will “punch back 10 times harder.” On Sunday, President Trump put those pugilistic instincts on display for all the world to see, circulating a doctored video clip that showed him physically attacking a crudely rendered stand-in for CNN, then walking away with a grimace of satisfaction.
After a week in which even Republicans were provoked to plead with the president to stop tweeting, the new post on Twitter again struck a nerve, drawing fresh rebukes from critics who called it an incitement to violence and a degradation of the highest office in the land.
Trump’s supporters and surrogates, though, defended the video clip as harmless mockery, denied such postings distracted from his agenda, or cheered the message outright.”
Trump stays defiant amid backlash over wrestling-themed anti-CNN tweet
“President Trump crowned his weekend rage against the news media by tweeting a mock video Sunday morning that shows him pummeling a man in a business suit – the man's face obscured by the CNN logo - outside a wrestling ring.
Mr. Trump, who has branded the media as the "opposition party" and CNN as "fake news," stayed on the attack later in the day, stating on Twitter that "the dishonest media will NEVER keep us from accomplishing our objectives on behalf of our GREAT AMERICAN PEOPLE!" ”
A new twist for Trump Twitter: His violent anti-media fantasy
“Just when Donald Trump’s media-mauling tweets start feeling like the same-old same-old, he comes up with a Sunday morning surprise.
The president shared with his 33 million followers a doctored video (click here) that depicts him body-slamming and pummeling on the ground a figure with a CNN logo superimposed over his face. The GIF concludes with a graphic that says: “FNN: Fraud News Network.” ”
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