Trump and CNN Reporter in Shouting Match at Press Conference
And so it begins.
Trump vs. the media, that is.
Oh, the President-elect has had a rocky relationship with journalists since the inception of his campaign, but now that he will be the country���s chief executive for at least the next four years, his largely-adversarial posture with the Fourth Estate is surely headed to another level...and it appears the world audience saw a glimpse of that on Wednesday, when Trump held his first post-election news conference.
There, Trump and CNN���s Jim Acosta sparred over the reporting on a 35-page dossier, allegedly assembled by a former official with British intelligence, that details intelligence supposedly gathered by Russia on the incoming president. One of the most notable points of contention is that the allegations contained in the dossier, including that there exists sex tapes that somehow involve Trump and Russian prostitutes, remain unsubstantiated.
While a variety of news outlets have written stories about the intelligence file, most discuss it nonspecifically, precisely because of the lack of confirmed veracity about what it contains. However, ���new media��� giant BuzzFeed nevertheless took the controversial step of publishing the entire document for everyone to see.
Obviously, Trump is livid with BuzzFeed, but is angry with CNN, as well, for their reporting on the file. What���s more, Trump has had a long-standing beef with CNN over what he sees as their biased take on him since the beginning of his campaign, which clearly does not help his temperament with the news giant, or any of its reporters, when a story like this bubbles up.
So, with that backdrop heading into Wednesday���s press conference, Acosta asked Trump at the media event, ���Since you���re attacking our news organization, can you give us a chance to ask a question?���
���Not you, your news organization is terrible,��� Trump replied, and he began to take another question from a different reporter.
Acosta remained undeterred.
���Can you give us a question? You are attacking us, can you give us a question, sir? Sir? Mr. President-elect.���
���Quiet. Quiet,��� Trump shot back at Acosta as he was taking another question. ���She���s asking a question, don���t be rude, don���t be rude.���
Acosta kept at it, with Trump saying, ���No I���m not going to give you a question ��� you are fake news.���
The Trump Era in American media has clearly begun.
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large
