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After a combative press conference during which Donald Trump said, “many of our nation’s reporters and folks will not tell you the truth,” the president sent out an email survey with leading questions asking supporters to help him keep the mainstream media accountable.
The email begins: “You know that I don’t trust the media to report on anything we achieve. Instead you — the American people — are our last line of defense against the media’s hit jobs.”
The survey is the same one he sent out in August, but it was sent again in the wake of what was one of the most contentious pressers of any U.S. president in modern American history.
This email was just dispatched by President Trump. pic.twitter.com/B7xbvgZ0Dl
— Eric Macramalla (@EricOnSportsLaw) February 16, 2017
The survey asks people to weigh in on the reliability of MSNBC and CNN, and also includes leading statements like: “The mainstream media needs to do more to expose the shady donations to the Clinton Foundation,” with the option to mark yes, no or no answer.
It’s clear the survey hasn’t been updated to reflect the current reality.
Trump has waged a battle against mainstream media, or at least the outfits the President has categorized as “fake news.”
“I have a running war with the media,” he said. “They are among the most dishonest human beings on Earth.”
Big newspaper editors disagree. At the Code Media conference, Washington Post editor Marty Baron said that the media isn’t at war with today’s administration.
“We’re at work,” Baron said. “We’re doing our jobs.”
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
