Vice President Pence in an interview taped Wednesday said that “liberals in the national media” have met their match in President Trump, who frequently derides the press as “fake news.”
Pence sat down with David Brody of the Christian Broadcast Network, who asked whether the combative nature of the “mainstream media” provided a beneficial foil for Trump.
“Well, all I know is for a lot of the liberals in the national media, they met their match in President Donald Trump,” Pence said, before pivoting to Trump’s reputation as a “fighter.”
{mosads}”He’s willing to fight every day to move this country forward to see jobs created, to see us reaffirm our commitment to the timeless principles in the Constitution, to see our military standing tall again, to see America respected in the world again,” Pence said.
“And to be able to take on his critics, one after another, and the only thing I know for sure is that President Trump is going to keep on fighting and we’re going to keep on winning for the American people,” he added.
While Pence has largely refrained from publicly chastising the media, Trump frequently labels negative coverage as “fake news” and has often referred to reporters as the “enemy of the people.”
The president on Thursday morning ratcheted up his attacks on the press, claiming it is driven by “hatred & agenda.” He also took aim at The New York Times and executives at CNN and NBC.
“The hatred and extreme bias of me by @CNN has clouded their thinking and made them unable to function. But actually, as I have always said, this has been going on for a long time. Little Jeff Z has done a terrible job, his ratings suck, & AT&T should fire him to save credibility!” Trump tweeted.
“What’s going on at @CNN is happening, to different degrees, at other networks — with @NBCNews being the worst,” he added in a separate tweet. “The good news is that Andy Lack(y) is about to be fired(?) for incompetence, and much worse.”
Trump blasted a New York Times report that friction between White House counsel Dough McGahn and Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, played a role in McGahn’s departure. He also disputed that his administration is rife with conflict, likening the White House to a “smooth running machine” despite consistent turnover among high-level staff since he took office.