TEHRAN, October 25 - US President Donald Trump has blamed the “hateful” mainstream media for much of the "anger" in society, after several prominent Democrats were allegedly targeted with explosive devices.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) -"A very big part of the Anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News," Trump tweeted on Thursday. "It has gotten so bad and hateful that it is beyond description."
"Mainstream Media must clean up its act, FAST!" he stated.
Trump’s remarks came in the wake of suspected attacks on the news outlet CNN and Democrats who have criticized him.
Speaking at a rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday night, Trump said that it was time to “stop treating political opponents as being morally defective.” He then called his own political opponents stupid or evil.
'Stop blaming others. Look in the mirror.'
Former CIA Director John Brennan, a harsh critic of the Republican president, replied to Trump's Thursday’s tweet, saying the president should "stop blaming others" and "look in the mirror."
Brennan was also allegedly targeted with a suspected explosive device.
"Your inflammatory rhetoric, insults, lies, (and) encouragement of physical violence are disgraceful," Brennan tweeted to the US president. "Clean up your act....try to act Presidential. The American people deserve much better."
He went on to say that Trump’s "critics will not be intimidated into silence."
Speaking an event in Austin, Texas, Brennan suggested he might have been targeted because of his previous strong criticisms of the president.
“His rhetoric, I think, too frequently fuels these feelings and sentiments that now are bleeding over into, potentially, acts of violence,” the former CIA director said.
“One could make an argument that it has emboldened individuals to take matters into their own hands. So when he compliments individuals who have in fact body-slammed others, or that he’s going to pay the legal bill of somebody who takes a swing at somebody, that can only be seen as encouragement and incitement,” he continued.
Meanwhile, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, another target of the suspected bomb attack, condemned divisive rhetoric by politicians without naming Trump.
“We have to do everything we can to bring our country together,” said Clinton, who was Trump’s rival in the 2016 presidential election. “We also have to elect candidates who will try to do the same.”
White House defends Trump's attack on media
Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders (pictured above) on Thursday defended Trump’s criticism of the mainstream media.
“Day in, day out, there is a negative tone,” Sanders told reporters outside the White House. “You guys continue to focus only on the negative and there is a role to play.”
She said that the “very first thing the president did” after the bombs were found was to condemn violence.
“The very first thing your network did was come out and accuse the president of being responsible for it,” she told a CNN reporter.
Source: Press TV
Your Comment