Last week, some journalists wondered whether media coverage of President-elect Donald Trump has been too focused on his Twitter activity to the extent that “real” stories have been getting buried.
On Monday morning, The New York Times, CNN, Politico, Time Magazine and ABC News all led with the same story in their online news coverage: another Trump tweet.
The Trump transition team has yet to put to rest reports of inner turmoil related to Trump’s cabinet selection process. Also left unanswered are questions about former Gen. Michael Flynn’s ties to foreign leaders, including President Erdogan of Turkey.
Nevertheless, the story that dominated Monday morning news coverage was a tweet sent out by Trump amidst a flurry of questions about the attack on secretary of state candidate Mitt Romney by Kellyanne Conway, who managed the Trump campaign and is now an adviser on the transition team.
The tweet, which alleged without any evidence that Clinton’s popular vote victory was due to voter fraud, set the media running off in a different direction altogether.
“Trump’s baseless assertions of voter fraud called ‘stunning,'” was Politico’s lead story. “Trump Claims Millions Voted Illegally, Citing No Evidence,” led the New York Times’ front page. “Trump Makes Baseless Claim That ‘Millions’ Voted Illegally, Costing Him The Popular Vote,” was the ABC News version.
Similar tweet-related headlines dominated the web Monday morning. By that point, Trump had moved on to tweeting about something else.
Key questions about the new administration, meanwhile, remain unanswered.