Who would have thought a year ago that one of the most pressing topics ahead of the 2017 G20 summit would be a tweet? Yet, here we are. In his joint press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda Thursday, President Trump scolded CNN for overreacting to a tweet he published over the weekend showing him body slamming the network to the ground - WWE style. It was a joke, but CNN perceived it as a threat. After Trump posted the video, CNN released a statement criticizing the president for “encouraging violence” against the media.
Trump and his supporters defended his Twitter use, noting he has every right to push back at the network that has covered him unfairly for two years now.
That’s exactly what he told the press in Poland.
“They have been fake news for a long time,” he said of the network. “They have been covering me in a very, very dishonest way.”
Trump was also asked about another story that won’t seem to go away – Russian interference in the 2016 election. He agreed the Kremlin interfered, then accused Obama of dropping the ball on the meddling. He had an idea why.
The president said Mr. Obama ignored Russian meddling in the election because he thought, as did most people, that Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton was going to win the election.
“The reason is he thought Hillary was going to win. If he thought I was going to win, he would have done plenty about it,” Mr. Trump said at a press conference in Poland. “His people said he choked. I don’t think he choked.”
Trump is currently on his way to Germany for the start of the G20 summit.