In the aftermath of the Tree of Life Synagogue massacre and the discovery of a series of mail bombs last week, the leftist media has condemned President Trump as the source of all division in America.
But a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll shows while although President Trump is credited with some division, registered voters believe the media bears more responsibility.
In the new Morning Consult/Politico poll, 64 percent of registered voters said the press has done more to divide the country than unite it since Trump took office, compared with 56 percent who said the same was true of the president. The poll of 2,543 voters was conducted Oct. 25-30, after news first broke of mail bomb suspect Cesar Sayoc’s attempted acts of politically motivated violence and amid news of a shooting by suspect Robert Bowers at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.
During an increasingly rare press briefing at the White House Monday, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders slammed the media for immediately rushing into a Trump blame in the aftermath of tragedy.
"The very first thing that the President did was condemn the attacks, both in Pittsburgh and in the pipe bombs. The very first thing the media did was blame the President and make him responsible for these ridiculous act. That is outrageous that that would be the very first reaction of so many people across this country," she said. "The only person responsible for carrying out either of these heinous acts were the individuals who carried them out. It's not the President no more than it was Bernie Sanders's fault for the individual who shot up a baseball field of congressional Republicans. You can't start putting the responsibility of individuals on anybody but the individual who carries out the crime."
"The President is not responsible for these acts. Again, the very first action that the President did was condemn these heinous acts. The very first thing that the media did was condemn the President, and go after and try to place blame not just on the President, but everybody that works in this administration. The major news networks' first public statement was to blame the President and myself included," she continued.
President Trump also continues to defend himself on Twitter.
CNN and others in the Fake News Business keep purposely and inaccurately reporting that I said the “Media is the Enemy of the People.” Wrong! I said that the “Fake News (Media) is the Enemy of the People,” a very big difference. When you give out false information - not good!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 30, 2018
Check out tweets from last two days. I refer to Fake News Media when mentioning Enemy of the People - but dishonest reporters use only the word “Media.” The people of our Great Country are angry and disillusioned at receiving so much Fake News. They get it, and fully understand!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 30, 2018