Trump’s Disgust for CNN “Fake News” Evident as Far Back as 1990 in This Amazing Video
Long since Donald Trump popularized the term “fake news” as we know it, he was combating it. A video has surfaced showing Trump walking out of a CNN interview in 1990 due to alleged misreporting and flagrant bias. It provides a perfect context into the depth of mutual distrust both sides carry today.
In this video, CNN correspondent Charles Feldman attempts to do a sit-down interview with Trump in March 1990. While the nature of the questioning is unclear, Trump becomes obviously agitated at the negative spin of the questioning. In the end, Trump walks out, proclaiming to Feldman that he should “do this interview with somebody else.”
Advertisement
The video contents are identical to the same things Trump rails against the mainstream media for today. Quite eerily, nothing has changed except for Trump’s more youthful appearance. Watch.
Trump Walks Out On 1990 CNN Interview For Being FAKE NEWShttps://t.co/SR1aeMWlsz
— Mike Cernovich ???????? (@Cernovich) December 20, 2017
Just as telling is Trump’s hostile attitude toward the media. People will recognize the exact same attitudes today, almost to the word. The video leads off with Trump saying:
“When people say something false, I attack those people. Because the news gets away with murder; the news media, they get away with murder… be tough in terms of libel laws, because the media is so protected, and it’s ridiculous that they’re so protected, but they can write virtually anything. The difference is with me, at least they pay some price. And I think more people should have that attitude and I think you would find a lot more accurate reporting.”
This quote is particularly foretelling of Trump’s current attitudes toward the media. It demonstrates a clear history of intent to hit back against “false” claims. Unlike most public figures, Trump favors offensive measures against perceived impropriety. There’s no shying away or bowing down; Trump’s counter-attacks are in an aggressive style, which is often more voracious than the original infraction. The passage of time has done little to subdue Trump’s counter-puncher instincts.
Trump’s quote also demonstrates the belief that reporting would become more accurate if more people “hit back.” Perhaps that explains why Trump has frequently berated fake news at event rallies and via Twitter (over 45 million followers). By raising awareness of fake news among American citizens, he’s indirectly forcing the mainstream media to report accurately or risk losing viewership. The higher the awareness, the more the public is hyper-attuned to left-wing bias which frequently skews, omits, or conflates key facts of newsworthy stories.
Consider that less than a month ago, CNN posted an opinion piece promoting the abolition of the words “fake news” from all media outlets. The reason? CNN posits that the term has lost its meaning and is not relevant in the current discourse.
I disagree. The actual reason CNN wants to ban the term is credibility loss from having been busted for fake news so many times. What was once the “most trusted source of news” is now a laughingstock among centrists on rightward. Trump’s crusade didn’t begin the collapsing trend in Americans’ distrust for the media; it merely accelerated it.
Consider this July 2017 Fox News Insider poll, which showed that more people trusted the White House than the media. And the differential was not insignificant: 37% of those polled said they trust the Trump administration, compared to 30% for the media and 29% for Congress. Shockingly, only nine percent of Republicans trust the press more than President Trump. The survey of 1,205 adults was conducted in late June. (Source: “New Poll Shows More Americans Trust the White House Than the Media,” Fox News Insider, July 5, 2017.)
Overall, a 30% overall rating is a ringing embarrassment for the mainstream media. Not only is trust in the media depressed, it’s at multi-decade lows. This shouldn’t be the case with the advancement of communications options and technologies. Information should be getting more efficient, thus more accurate by definition. Instead, the trend is collapsing.
Verdict
When it comes to the media, perhaps Trump was ahead of his time. Hatred between politicians and the media is nothing new, but, by adopting a counter-attack style to thwart political correctness, Trump has successfully shifted the discourse.
What once was taboo has now become the new normal. We can thank President Trump for that. No longer is politically accepted speech being dictated by the Left. Erroneous narratives are being confronted, called out, and counter-attacked in a manner which was unheard of before Trump burst onto the scene. Trump is the ultimate disruptor and, for that reason, his base is as committed as ever to his cause.
