WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump unveiled the winners of his much-touted “Fake News Awards” late Wednesday, escalating his already persistent attacks on a number of major US media outlets.
The awards dropped hours after a senator from Trump’s own Republican party hurled a rebuke at the president, accusing the US leader of undermining the free press with Stalinist language.
The brash Republican president announced the ten “honourees” using his preferred medium of Twitter, linking to a list published on the Republican Party’s website that crashed minutes after his big reveal.
The full list of “Winners” goes like this:
- The New York Times’ Paul Krugman claimed on the day of President Trump’s historic, landslide victory that the economy would never recover.
- ABC News’ Brian Ross CHOKES and sends markets in a downward spiral with false report.
- CNN FALSELY reported that candidate Donald Trump and his son Donald J. Trump, Jr. had access to hacked documents from WikiLeaks.
- TIMEFALSELY reported that President Trump removed a bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. from the Oval Office.
- Washington PostFALSELY reported the President’s massive sold-out rally in Pensacola, Florida was empty. Dishonest reporter showed picture of empty arena HOURS before crowd started pouring in.
- CNN FALSELY edited a video to make it appear President Trump defiantly overfed fish during a visit with the Japanese prime minister. Japanese prime minister actually led the way with the feeding.
- CNN FALSELY reported about Anthony Scaramucci’s meeting with a Russian, but retracted it due to a “significant breakdown in process.”
- NewsweekFALSELY reported that Polish First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda did not shake President Trump’s hand.
- CNN FALSELY reported that former FBI Director James Comey would dispute President Trump’s claim that he was told he is not under investigation.
- New York TimesFALSELY claimed on the front page that the Trump administration had hidden a climate report.
- And last, but not least: “RUSSIA COLLUSION!” Russian collusion is perhaps the greatest hoax perpetrated on the American people. THERE IS NO COLLUSION!
Nobel-prize winning economist Paul Krugman, who writes a regular opinion column for The New York Times, nabbed the number one spot.
The administration said he merited the award for writing “on the day of President Trump’s historic, landslide victory that the economy would never recover.”
Following the former reality star’s stunning rise to power, Krugman had written that Trump’s inexperience on economic policy and unpredictability risked further damaging the weak global economy.
The list also pointed to a reporting error from ABC’s veteran reporter Brian Ross, who was suspended for four weeks without pay after he was forced to correct a bombshell report on ex-Trump aide Michael Flynn.
In follow-up tweets to his “Fake News” announcement, the commander-in-chief posted that “despite some very corrupt and dishonest media coverage, there are many great reporters I respect and lots of GOOD NEWS for the American people to be proud of!”
“Together there is nothing we can’t overcome — even a very biased media. We ARE Making America Great Again!”
Earlier in the day Republican Senator Jeff Flake had slammed what he called the president’s dangerous disregard for the truth, and his designation of the mainstream news media as an “enemy of the people.”
