Donald Trump will attack CNN over the littlest of things.
In their initial report of Donald Trump Jr’s connections to Wikileaks, which are part of Robert Mueller’s investigation, CNN reported that Trump campaign members were sent an email on September 4, 2016, featuring access to hacked documents.
However, CNN misreported the date on the email. It was actually sent on September 14th, so CNN issued a correction.
Correction: This story has been corrected to say the date of the email was September 14, 2016, not September 4, 2016. The story also changed the headline and removed a tweet from Donald Trump Jr., who posted a message about WikiLeaks on September 4, 2016.
It was an innocent mistake that several outlets made, but Trump used the error as proof that CNN makes stuff up.
“Did you see all the corrections the media’s been making?” Trump bragged during a speech in Florida on Friday. “They’re saying, ‘Sorry, we’ve made a––they’ve been doing that all year! They never apologize! Maybe that comes with being the president. I don’t know. I don’t know. They’ve been apologizing left and right…And then CNN apologized just a little while ago. They apologized! Oh, thank you CNN, thank you so much! You should have been apologizing for the last two years! True, true.”
Trump literally claimed that the media “never” apologizes and then said they have been “apologizing left and right” in the very next sentence.
Which is it, Donald?
ABC reporter Brian Ross also made an on-air reporting error last week, claiming Michael Flynn was going to testify that President Trump directed him to reach out to the Russians. As soon as the network realized the mistake, they immediately corrected the story and issued a public apology. ABC ultimately suspended Ross over the error.
The reality is, these mistakes happen, especially when the news is breaking at the speed of Trump. At least ABC and CNN have the journalistic integrity to correct the record, unlike Fox News.
Still, Trump continued his attack on CNN on Twitter Saturday morning.
Fake News CNN made a vicious and purposeful mistake yesterday. They were caught red handed, just like lonely Brian Ross at ABC News (who should be immediately fired for his “mistake”). Watch to see if @CNN fires those responsible, or was it just gross incompetence?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 9, 2017
CNN’S slogan is CNN, THE MOST TRUSTED NAME IN NEWS. Everyone knows this is not true, that this could, in fact, be a fraud on the American Public. There are many outlets that are far more trusted than Fake News CNN. Their slogan should be CNN, THE LEAST TRUSTED NAME IN NEWS!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 9, 2017
Trump just called for firing journalists and accused CNN of committing fraud. Once again the president is trying to circumvent the First Amendment and discredit the media. Critics suggest he is actively trying to undermine credible news sources because he knows that damaging reports are going to start surfacing soon.
Let’s all just keep in mind that he is under investigation for committing what amounts to election fraud at the very least, and treason at the most.
News reporters make mistakes. It happens. What matters is whether they have the integrity to correct them. CNN does. That’s why Americans continue to trust the media more than they trust Trump.
Featured Image: Mark Wilson/Getty Images
