Fox News Chief White House Correspondent John Roberts has suggested that President Trump considers him “an enemy of the state.” Roberts tweeted those sentiments on Thursday.
President Trump doubles down on his “fake news media – enemy of the people” mantra for reporting that his meeting with Putin was widely panned by members of his own party. That makes me an enemy of the state. https://t.co/TrsfmVKJYj
— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) July 19, 2018
“President Trump doubles down on his ‘fake news media – enemy of the people’ mantra for reporting that his meeting with Putin was widely panned by members of his own party. That makes me an enemy of the state.”
Roberts was responding to a tweet from President Trump that attacked the media.
The Summit with Russia was a great success, except with the real enemy of the people, the Fake News Media. I look forward to our second meeting so that we can start implementing some of the many things discussed, including stopping terrorism, security for Israel, nuclear……..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 19, 2018
“The Summit with Russia was a great success, except with the real enemy of the people, the Fake News Media. I look forward to our second meeting so that we can start implementing some of the many things discussed, including stopping terrorism, security for Israel, nuclear……..”
However, the president hasn’t included Fox News in his criticisms of “fake news,” typically aiming his fire at such outlets as the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN and the broadcast networks.
In fact, during a press conference in Britain on July 13, Trump called Fox News “a real news network” after blasting CNN.
Trump had shot down CNN White House reporter Jim Acosta by saying, “CNN is fake news. I don’t take questions from CNN.”
The president then said, “John Roberts from Fox, let’s go to a real network.”
Roberts then asked the president a question. However, later in the day the Fox reporter defended CNN and criticized the president. Roberts also defended NBC, which Trump called “dishonest” and “possibly worse than CNN.”
Roberts issued this statement to Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple:
“In today’s press conference, I paused while my colleague from CNN went back and forth with President Trump over a question. When it became clear that the president wasn’t going to entertain a question from him, I proceeded with my question, as did my fellow colleagues in the press corps. I know Kristen Welker of NBC. She is honest as the day is long. For the President to call her dishonest is unfair. I also used to work at CNN. There are some fine journalists who work there and risk their lives to report on stories around the world. To issue a blanket condemnation of the network as ‘fake news’ is also unfair.”
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