Trump attacks Washington Post reporter for ‘fake news’, he apologises

Team Udayavani, Dec 10, 2017, 4:30 PM IST

Washington: A Washington Post reporter today had to tender an apology after US President Donald Trump asked him to do so for posting an erroneous tweet about his rally in Florida. Dave Weigel, who covers politics for the newspaper, had posted a picture on his Twitter account which showed an empty arena when Trump was addressing a public meeting.

Trump, in a tweet, said, “Weigel put out a phony photo of an empty arena hours before he arrived at the venue, with thousands of people outside, on their way in. Real photos now shown as I spoke. Packed house, many people unable to get in. Demand apology & retraction from FAKE NEWS WaPo!” said the US President as he posted pictures of the event.

Weigel apologised within minutes, and tweeted, “Sure thing: I apologise. I deleted the photo after David Martosko of Daily Mail told me I’d gotten it wrong. Was confused by the image of you walking in the bottom right corner.” Despite Weigel’s apology, Trump in a follow-up tweet demanded that he be fired.

“Weigel of the Washington Post just admitted that his picture was a FAKE (fraud?) showing an almost empty arena last night for my speech in Pensacola when, in fact, he knew the arena was packed (as shown also on TV). FAKE NEWS, he should be fired,” he said. Early in the morning, Trump targeted CNN for its alleged inaccurate reporting.

“Fake News CNN made a vicious and purposeful mistake yesterday. They were caught red handed, just like lonely Brian Ross at ABC News (who should be immediately fired for his “mistake”). Watch to see if @CNN fires those responsible, or was it just gross incompetence?” he asked. CNN, in another tweet, he said, is the “least trusted name in news”.

“CNN’s slogan is CNN, THE MOST TRUSTED NAME IN NEWS. Everyone knows this is not true, that this could, in fact, be a fraud on the American Public. There are many outlets that are far more trusted than Fake News CNN. Their slogan should be CNN, THE LEAST TRUSTED NAME IN NEWS!” said the US President. Trump has over 44 million followers on Twitter.