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Trump uses Twitter to promote video of supporters chanting ‘CNN sucks’

August 1, 2018 at 2:01 p.m. EDT
President Trump gestures during a campaign rally Tuesday night in Tampa. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

President Trump on Tuesday night used his Twitter account to promote a video of his supporters at a Florida campaign rally chanting “CNN sucks!”

The action was Trump’s latest display of animus toward the network, which he has repeatedly called “fake news” and, at times, refused to field questions from its reporters at news conferences.

The website Breaking911.com posted video Tuesday of CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta delivering a live report ahead of Trump’s rally in Tampa. Trump supporters can be seen and heard in the background chanting and heckling Acosta.

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Eric Trump, one of the president’s sons, tweeted the video with the description, “WATCH: Supporters of President Trump Chant ‘CNN Sucks’ During Jim Acosta’s Live Spot at Florida Rally.” The president then retweeted his son’s post.

Acosta tweeted a separate video of Trump supporters yelling at the media at the rally site, writing: “Just a sample of the sad scene we faced at the Trump rally in Tampa. I’m very worried that the hostility whipped up by Trump and some in conservative media will result in somebody getting hurt.”

Asked about the behavior of Trump supporters at the rally, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at a briefing on Wednesday: “While we certainly support freedom of the press, we also support freedom of speech, and we think those things go hand in hand.”

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Trump’s hostility toward the media extends well beyond CNN. He has repeatedly referred to the media as “the enemy of the people.”

Last week, Trump used his Twitter account to level false attacks at The Washington Post and Amazon, whose founder, Jeff Bezos, owns The Post. Among other things, Trump falsely accused The Post of being a “lobbyist” for Amazon.

Trump’s decision to promote video from the rally site was reminiscent of a decision last year to retweet a cartoon that depicted a train labeled “Trump” hitting a person with the CNN logo on their face.