President Donald Trump lashed out at NBC News Wednesday morning, hours after the outlet reported that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called him a “moron” in front of fellow cabinet officials in July.
“NBC news is #FakeNews and more dishonest than even CNN. They are a disgrace to good reporting. No wonder their news ratings are way down!” Trump tweeted.
NBC news is #FakeNews and more dishonest than even CNN. They are a disgrace to good reporting. No wonder their news ratings are way down!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 4, 2017
Citing multiple senior administration officials, NBC News reported that Tillerson snapped in a July 20 meeting, referring to the president as a “moron” in front of members of Trump’s national security team and cabinet officials.
Vice President Mike Pence, motivated by a desire to project stability after a series of high profile dismissals, reportedly met with Tillerson and repeatedly urged his continued service in the administration. (RELATED: Tillerson And Trump Got So Heated Pence Had To Break It Up)
Tillerson lauded Trump’s performance and denied that he had to be convinced to remain in his role during a Wednesday press conference. He dismissed reports that he disparaged Trump as “petty nonsense.”
“There’s never been a consideration in my mind of leaving,” Tillerson told reporters.
Trump issued another tweet following Tillerson’s remarks, emphasizing his denial of the report and repeating his claim that NBC is a purveyor of “fake news.”
The @NBCNews story has just been totally refuted by Sec. Tillerson and @VP Pence. It is #FakeNews. They should issue an apology to AMERICA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 4, 2017
It appears Trump copied the text of his original tweet from White House social media director Dan Scavino Jr. who tweeted the exact same message moments before Trump did.
I don’t think Trump did this tweet pic.twitter.com/HXZHPr6Nls
— Joe Perticone (@JoePerticone) October 4, 2017
Scavino deleted his tweet and retweeted Trump’s tweet minutes later.
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