On Tuesday night, CNN broke an exclusive report that alleged Russia had planned to blackmail Donald Trump using personal and financial information about the president-elect. Trump has since denied the report, referring to it as "Fake News," and now the White House is speaking out.

White House on Trump

Not long after the CNN report broke, Buzzfeed appeared to release further details about what information Russia had reportedly obtained from Donald Trump. The Buzzfeed report claimed that Russia had private sex tapes involving Trump and prostitutes that allegedly took place at a hotel in the Kremlin.

The former host of "The Apprentice" quickly lashed out at various times on Twitter, and doubled down in denial during a press conference at Trump Tower on Wednesday afternoon. Trump and his transition team have continued to label the allegations "fake news," going as far as the president-elect refusing to allow CNN's Jim Acosta from asking a question at the press conference. As reported by The Hill on January 11, the White House and President Obama are speaking out.

While speaking to reporters on Wednesday afternoon, White House Press Secretary John Earnest hit back at Donald Trump over his now sudden concern about "fake news." "There were a wide variety of the president’s critics who were suggesting and propagating conspiracy theories that somehow the president was not born in the United States," Earnest said, referencing the "birther" theory made popular in part by Trump.

Earnest continued, noting that all critics had to was look at Obama's birth certificate and it would have shown that the "charges against the president, that were lobbed against the president. were false."

Fake news trouble

Following the election of Donald Trump, speculation grew about how he was able to overcome the odds and defeat Hillary Clinton.

The idea of "fake news" became a hot topic, mostly with Clinton supporters who believed it was a leading cause of her defeat in the election. While some news on the internet is considered "fake," many alternative news sources have been labeled as fake news despite the majority being credible.

Moving forward

Despite the backlash from the latest report linking Russia to the hack of the election, Donald Trump is just over a week away from becoming the next commander in chief. While Trump prepares for Inauguration Day, over 100,000 protesters are expected to be in attendance to voice their opposition.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED