Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) partially defended President Trump’s recent attacks on CNN International as “fake news” Tuesday after CNN’s Wolf Blitzer asked about it, arguing that such tweets endangered reporters abroad. Graham told Blitzer he thought some of CNN’s reporting was good but said it’s clear why President Trump and some Republicans aren't fans of CNN, saying “MSNBC and CNN is just 24 hours a day that Trump did something wrong and stupid.”
Blitzer talked about the Libyan media using Trump’s tweet to question the credibility of a CNN international report on Libyan slave auctions. He asked whether Graham felt that it could embolden other countries to question real, serious reporting and “even lead to American journalists overseas being jailed or attacked.”
“Well, I think the President feels like that CNN and about every other major news outlet in this country is just unfair to the point of being over-the-top unfair,” Graham told Blitzer. “I think there's some truth to that. But you're a good news organization.”
“But you've got to understand, too, that if you're President Trump, you can't turn on CNN or any other news network in the country without somebody beating the hell out of him,” Graham added. “And I guess that wears on him.”
“But that's the nature of a free press,” Blitzer countered. “That's our responsibility, to report the news honestly and fairly. And not just do whatever a president or any world leader wants.”
“I'm not suggesting that you report the news in a way that you think is unfair, but let’s be honest about this,” Graham said, “MSNBC and CNN is just 24 hours a day that Trump did something wrong and stupid. And also good news reporting on Fox, he's always right. So the bottom line is, you've got to understand why most Republicans don't trust CNN.”
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