Trump attacked members of the press again Thursday during a White House press conference. Following this week's reports of alleged contact between his campaign aides and Russian intelligence, Trump labeled the collective "press" as "out of control." A senior administration official told CNN that Trump walked into the Oval Office Thursday morning and said, "Let's do a press conference today."
Trump specifically mentioned press in New York and Los Angeles during the conference, according to a transcript from the New York Times. "The press has become so dishonest that if we don't talk about, we are doing a tremendous disservice to the American people," the former Apprentice host said. "Tremendous disservice. We have to talk to find out what's going on, because the press honestly is out of control. The level of dishonesty is out of control."
Trump, speaking on the continued allegations of Russian involvement with his team, repeatedly used the term "fake news" and characterized the leaks as a fabrication from Democrats in response to the election. "Russia is fake news," Trump said. "Russia—this is fake news put out by the media." He also theorized that "the real news" had something to do with the Obama administration? Idfk.
Not only that, but Trump also claimed he's the "least anti-Semitic person that you've ever seen in your entire life." He also claimed he's the "least racist person":
Trump: "Number one, I am the least anti-semitic person you've ever seen in your entire life. Number two, racism, the least racist person" pic.twitter.com/UIvDRHZvjB
The press conference, estimated by the Huffington Post to have spanned 76 chaotic minutes, was an immediate source of utter shock and paralyzing befuddlement on Twitter:
Michael Flynn resigned as national security adviser Monday night, with the Timesreporting it had been revealed that he "misled" Vice President Mike Pence and other White House officials regarding Russian ambassador discussions. The Justice Department worried Flynn may become vulnerable to blackmail at the hands of Moscow and informed the White House in January that he had not been entirely forthcoming about the discussions.
