President Donald Trump took to Twitter early on Monday morning to bash polls showing that many Americans are unhappy with his performance so far, calling them “fake news.”
Any negative polls are fake news, just like the CNN, ABC, NBC polls in the election. Sorry, people want border security and extreme vetting.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 6, 2017
I call my own shots, largely based on an accumulation of data, and everyone knows it. Some FAKE NEWS media, in order to marginalize, lies!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 6, 2017
Trump has been highly combative with the media, famously referring to BuzzFeed as a “failing pile of garbage” after the website published an unverified Russian dossier last month. He has also singles out CNN, referring to the network as “fake news” on a regular basis.
Trump and members of his team have coined the term “opposition party” to describe the mainstream media. The majority of the outrage directed at President Trump is based on his executive order for a travel ban from seven predominately Muslim countries. Various media organizations have conducted polls that show Trump’s approval rating is low through his first two weeks in the Oval Office.
Trump has tried to discredit the media, specifically news organizations that he doesn’t consider friendly to his administration.
The morning after the Super Bowl, Trump also sent a congratulatory tweet to the New England Patriots, the team that defeated the Atlanta Falcons. Trump is known to be friendly with various members of the Patriots organization and he predicted a New England eight-point victory prior to the game.
What an amazing comeback and win by the Patriots. Tom Brady, Bob Kraft and Coach B are total winners. Wow!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 6, 2017
Trump’s prediction was close, as the Patriots won 34-28 to pick up their fifth Super Bowl during the Tom Brady era.