President Donald Trump accused the media of failing to report incidents of radical Islamic terrorism during a speech to the American military at MacDill Air Force Base.
Trump pointed out that Islamic State terrorists were “on a campaign of genocide” and were striking within the United States and throughout Europe.
“It’s gotten to a point where it’s not even being reported,” Trump said during his speech. “And in many cases, the very, very dishonest press doesn’t want to report it. They have their reasons and you understand that.”
Trump’s remarks drew instant condemnation from reporters, who appeared appalled that he would accuse them of covering up terrorism.
“This is either delusional or intended to whip up hysteria. There is no third explanation,” wrote former Obama senior adviser David Axelrod on Twitter. “And neither is good.”
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters on Air Force One that Trump was referring to their editorial decisions on covering terrorism.
“He felt members of the media don’t always cover some of those events to the extent that other events might get covered,” Spicer explained. “Protests will get blown out of the water, and yet an attack or a foiled attack doesn’t necessarily get the same coverage.”
Spicer said that he would provide a “list” of the media’s failures at a later date.
“There’s a lot of instances that have occurred where I don’t think they’ve gotten the coverage it deserved,” he said.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.