Donald Trump took to Twitter on Tuesday morning to attack CNN following the network’s retraction of a story about one of the president’s former staffers, which led to the resignation of three of its reporters.
Trump has a history of attacking media outlets he deems “fake news,” with CNN being one of his most common targets. He has also used TV ratings as an attack topic against his opponents, as he did against Arnold Schwarzenegger during his run as host of “Celebrity Apprentice.” Tuesday morning was no different, as Trump criticized the network for its “phony Russian stories” and said that its ratings were down.
Fake News CNN is looking at big management changes now that they got caught falsely pushing their phony Russian stories. Ratings way down!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 27, 2017
But CNN challenged Trump on the second charge: The network’s communications Twitter account responded to the tweet by pointing out the record ratings it has enjoyed during Trump’s presidency.
CNN just posted it’s most-watched second quarter in history. Those are the facts.
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) June 27, 2017
On Thursday, CNN published a story from investigative reporter Thomas Frank about an investigation into possible ties between Trump associates and a Russian investment fund. The story was disputed the following day by Anthony Scaramucci, one of the associates named in the report, who pushed back against the article.
“Once it was determined that editorial processes were not followed, CNN deleted the story from CNN.com,” the network said Friday on its site. “Soon thereafter, the story was officially retracted and replaced with an editor’s note.”
On Monday, Frank turned in his resignation to CNN, as did editor Eric Lichtblau and unit head Lex Haris.
“On Friday, CNN retracted a story published by my team. As Executive Editor of that team, I have resigned,” Haris said in a statement. “I’ve been with CNN since 2001, and am sure about one thing: This is a news organization that prizes accuracy and fairness above all else. I am leaving, but will carry those principles wherever I go.”