A Fox Business Network panelist on Thursday said President Trump has been one of his “anonymous sources” over the years, after the president railed against media using anonymous sources during a rally in Montana.
“Just heard @POTUS at this rally complaining about the use of anonymous sources,” Charles Gasparino tweeted. “For the record he was one of mine over the years.”
{mosads}Gasparino’s tweet came after Trump used anonymous reporting as a reason to call the news media “fake” and “dishonest.”
“They never use names anymore,” Trump said. “In the old days, they used to use names. ‘Jim Smith said that Donald Trump is a bad guy.’ They don’t do that anymore. They say ‘a source within the administration.’ They make the sources up; they don’t exist in many cases.”
“15 anonymous. I don’t have 15 people in the White House. Forget it. These are really bad people,” he said of the media.
Trump’s comments came during an appearance in Montana to support State Auditor Matt Rosendale, who is challenging Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) in November.
His attack on the media comes the same week Trump attacked The Washington Post for using anonymous sources.
“The Washington Post is constantly quoting ‘anonymous sources’ that do not exist. Rarely do they use the name of anyone because there is no one to give them the kind of negative quote that they are looking for. They are a discgrace [sic] to journalism but then again, so are many others!” Trump tweeted.
Protecting sources is common practice among news media. Last month, Trump attacked The New York for allegedly making up a source, but multiple journalists including those at The Hill had participated in a White House-hosted press call with the official who was quoted in the Times.