President Donald Trump on Tuesday suggested White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is to blame for media outlets’ unfavorable coverage of him in a wild moment in the Oval Office.
Trump, after signing an executive order calling for a national voter list, launched into a rant about the “fake press” where he name-dropped “dishonest” legacy outlets that don’t reflect his perceived successes as well as he’d like them to.
“I got 93% bad publicity — some people say 97 but between 93 and 97,” said Trump, who pushed similarly phony, evidence-free numbers last year while claiming that too much negative coverage of him was “really illegal.”
He continued by awkwardly, and seemingly playfully, pointing out his press secretary as she watched on, “Maybe Karoline’s doing a poor job? I don’t know. She’s my repre — you’re doing a terrible job. Should we keep her? I think we’ll keep her.”
Trump, who has sowed seeds of doubt in the press over his past decade and change in the political circuit, concluded that it’s a “very bad” and “sad” thing for America to lack trust in the media.
The comments from Trump come as his approval ratings sink further, down to 33% in at least one case, amid his Iran war and the partial government shutdown that has left thousands of federal workers without pay for several weeks.
Critics on social media offered their blunt analysis on the bizarre moment.