MSM shouldn’t cover Trump's tweets, forcing him to rely on media to communicate – CNN anchor
US President-elect Donald Trump has largely ditched the “distorted” media, opting to communicate through Twitter rather than press conferences and interviews. But CNN anchor Don Lemon said the media facilitates that by choosing to cover his tweets.
The leader-in-waiting hasn't held a press conference since winning the presidential election and regularly takes to Twitter to criticize the media landscape, using adjectives ranging from “crooked” to “dishonest.”
Prior to the election it was well known that I have interests in properties all over the world.Only the crooked media makes this a big deal!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 22, 2016
We did it! Thank you to all of my great supporters, we just officially won the election (despite all of the distorted and inaccurate media).
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 19, 2016
However, Trump's choice to refrain from speaking to most news outlets, particularly left-leaning ones, is largely related to the industry's decision to give his tweets media coverage, according to Lemon.
“Listen, I’m not a news executive. But if I were, I would say I would not cover his tweets,” Lemon said on-air on Tuesday.
Lemon said that if the media were to stop covering Trump's tweets, he would be forced to hold a press conference because “he hates being ignored.”
Trump's media bashing began long before he won his bid for the White House, with the billionaire often tweeting that the news industry was “rigging the election.”
The media and establishment want me out of the race so badly - I WILL NEVER DROP OUT OF THE RACE, WILL NEVER LET MY SUPPORTERS DOWN! #MAGA
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 8, 2016
In addition to traditional mainstream media, he has also lashed out against Twitter, Facebook, and Google for allegedly “burying the FBI criminal investigation of [Hillary] Clinton.”
Wow, Twitter, Google and Facebook are burying the FBI criminal investigation of Clinton. Very dishonest media!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 30, 2016
Even Saturday Night Live found itself a target of his criticism, despite the show's reputation for making fun of just about anyone who has ever set foot in the public eye.
Watched Saturday Night Live hit job on me.Time to retire the boring and unfunny show. Alec Baldwin portrayal stinks. Media rigging election!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 16, 2016
NewsMax Media CEO Christopher Ruddy believes Trump has plenty of reasons to take issue with the mainstream media.
“Everybody talks about ‘fake news’, but the real problem in America is biased news,” Ruddy told RT's CrossTalk program last week, adding that Trump is being “victimized” by the media.
Ruddy's thoughts were echoed by Republican lobbyist Jack Burkman, who believes the mainstream media will “never stop attacking Trump...”
“...Most of the establishment media, almost all of it, has made a decision that they hate Donald Trump and they will oppose him at every turn, I think you'll never see it stop,” he told CrossTalk's Peter Lavelle.
The editorial boards of several mainstream media outlets publicly endorsed Trump's opponent Hillary Clinton during the election campaign, including USA Today, which claimed the Republican candidate was “unfit for the presidency.” It was the first time in the newspaper's 34-year history that its board had ever taken sides in a presidential race.
