President Trump blasted the “out of control” dishonesty of the mainstream media during a Thursday press conference, accusing reporters of distorting facts to help special interests.
“Many of our nation’s reporters and folks will not tell you the truth and will not treat you with the respect you deserve,” Trump said from the White House’s East Room.
{mosads}”Much of the media in Washington, D.C., along with New York, Los Angeles in particular, speaks for the special interests and for those profiting off the obviously very, very broken system. The press has become so dishonest that if we don’t talk about it, we are doing a tremendous disservice to the American people. The press is out of control, the level of dishonesty is out of control.”
Trump later pushed back at reports his administration is in “chaos.”
“I turn on the TV and open the newspaper and sees stories of chaos. Chaos,” Trump said.
Trump accused the media of targeting him as retribution for his election victory.
Minutes earlier, reading off what appeared to be scripted remarks, Trump lauded a new poll from the conservative-leaning Rasmussen that found he holds a 55 percent approval rating, significantly higher than other recent polls.
As he blasted the media for its low approval rating, Trump said he believes it’s a public good to correct the media.
““There’s nobody I have more respect for, well maybe a little bit, than good reporters. It’s very important to me, especially in this position,” he said.
“I don’t mind bad stories, I can handle a bad story better than anybody, as long as it’s true.”
Joe Concha contributed.