In recent days, Donald Trump and the news media have only increased their war of words. After Trump accused the press of covering up and ignoring massive terrorists attacks around the world, the White House released a detailed list, though it was quickly fact-checked.
Trump terror trouble
On Thursday afternoon, President Donald Trump spoke at CENTCOM in Florida and claimed that the mainstream media was not reporting on a wide-range of Islamic terrorist attacks around the globe. Trump told those in attendance that news outlets were ignoring terrorist attacks, claiming, "In many cases the very, very dishonest press doesn’t want to report it." In the aftermath, the White House was pressed on releasing details about what attacks were allegedly ignored, prompting the administration to release a list of nearly 80 examples.
As reported by Mediaite on February 6, the Trump administration was debunked after the majority of the attacks listed were found to have been covered extensively by the press.
CNN’s Jim Acosta: WH List on Underreported Terror Attacks Is a ‘Head-Scratcher’ https://t.co/BCOAQ3y54u (VIDEO) pic.twitter.com/8tSpOmiCIR
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) February 7, 2017
Speaking to CNN host Erin Burnett on Monday night, network reporter Jim Acosta got his hands on the aforementioned list, and seemed a bit confused at its contents. "There are 78 attacks listed on this list, and I have to tell you, Erin, it’s a head-scratcher," Acosta said, while also labeling it "puzzling." Acosta named some of the examples listed, which included ISIS attacks in Paris, Brussels, and Nice, while also American-based incidents in San Berardino, and at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
White House official: "Most of these attacks did not receive adequate attention from Western media sources." https://t.co/fjYZw4lWtL
— Dan Merica (@danmericaCNN) February 7, 2017
CNN producer Dan Merica posted scans of the list on his Twitter account, while offering direct quotes from White House officials. "Most of these attacks did not receive adequate attention from Western media sources," the source said.
As CNN pointed out, most of what was listed was covered by the media, and in the case of the larger attacks, were given expansive 24-hour coverage.
Next up
To start of his day, Donald Trump sent out a series of anti-media tweets, targeting multiple news outlets, including CNN, ABC, NBC, and also the New York Times. The billionaire real estate mogul accused the networks and news outlets of producing "fiction," while stating that any negative polls that are released by the sources in question should be considered "fake news."
