US President tweets mock video wrestling a man with his face edited as CNN logo
President Donald Trump stepped up his feud with the media on Sunday by tweeting a mock video of himself tackling and repeatedly striking a man with a CNN logo super-imposed in place of his head, followed by a logo saying “Fraud News Network.”
The video appeared to be a modified version of a 2007 appearance by Trump at World Wrestling Entertainment’s WrestleMania 23 promotion, in which Trump “takes down” WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. In Sunday’s video, McMahon’s head has been replaced with the CNN logo.
After Trump appears to beat on the CNN effigy, a logo, “FNN Fraud News Network” appears at the bottom of the screen in script similar to that of CNN.
Trump appointed McMahon’s wife, Linda McMahon, as the head of the Small Business Administration, a Cabinet-level agency. She was active in the management of WWE for many years.
As a presidential candidate and as commander-in-chief, Trump has repeatedly made known his disdain for the media, calling it “the enemy of the American people” and frequently referring to mainstream news organizations as “failing” or “fake news.” He has been particularly scathing of CNN.
The video takes his criticism to a new level and drew criticism from the news organization and on social media.
“It is a sad day when the President of the United States encourages violence against reporters,” CNN said in a statement.
“Instead of preparing for his overseas trip, his first meeting with Vladimir Putin, dealing with North Korea and working on his health care bill, he is instead involved in juvenile behavior far below the dignity of his office,” CNN said.
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