A Pew Research Center study found that the media was over three times more negative towards President Donald Trump in his first 60 days in office compared to former President Barack Obama in his first year in the White House.
The Pew Research Center found that the media’s coverage of Trump in his first few months in office was 62 percent negative, while Obama’s coverage was just 20 percent negative. President Trump received only five percent positive media coverage, compared to Obama who got 42 percent positive media coverage, the most positive media coverage of a president in recent history.
Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton both had roughly 28 percent negative media coverage in their first few months in office. Clinton received 27 percent favorable media coverage, while Bush got 22 positive coverage during his first 60 days as president.
Pew reported, “About six-in-ten stories on Trump’s early days in office had a negative assessment, about three times more than in early coverage for Obama and roughly twice that of Bush and Clinton. Coverage of Trump’s early time in office moved further away from a focus on the policy agenda and more toward character and leadership.”
Another Pew study reported that 89 percent of Democrats believe that the news media keeps politicians from “doing things that shouldn’t be done,” compared to 42 percent of Republicans who believe that the media should serve as a “watchdog.”
The wide gap between Republicans’ and Democrats’ view of the media is the largest it has been since 1985. These figures starkly contrast from early 2016, when 74 percent of Democrats believe in the media as a watchdog, and 77 percent of Republicans supported the media.
On Thursday, President Donald Trump tweeted: “The Fake News refuses to talk about how Big and how Strong our BASE is. They show Fake Polls just like they report Fake News. Despite only negative reporting, we are doing well – nobody is going to beat us. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”