Having been a few days since there was even a noteworthy exchange between President Trump and a White House reporter, Wednesday’s Coronavirus Task Force daily briefing came through.
This time, CBS White House correspondent Paula Reid was on the receiving end as the President called her reporting “fake news” and doubled down on a tweet insisting the liberal media want the economy to tank (due to the coronavirus) in order to further harm his reelection prospects.
Just after 4:00 p.m. Eastern, Trump tweeted: “The LameStream Media is the dominant force in trying to get me to keep our Country closed as long as possible in the hope that it will be detrimental to my election success. The real people want to get back to work ASAP. We will be stronger than ever before!”
Flashing forward to 6:20 p.m. Eastern, Reid asked: “Mr. President, you tweeted earlier linking the closing of the country to your election success in November. Is this Easter time line based on your political interests? You tweeted --- you said that the media wants the country to remain closed to hurt your odds of being reelected.”
Trump initially seemed confused, but quickly realized what Reid meant and, without any further hesitation, insisted that they “would like to see me do poorly in the election,” but Reid interrupted to reframe the tweet through the lens of his “hope” to have the country (in parts) reopened by Easter.
“Sir, lawmakers and economists on both sides have said that reopening the country by Easter is not a good idea. What is that plan based on,” she asked even though there was nothing in his tweet above about the timeline. Even if it were, NewsBusters wrote Tuesday night how the liberal media have spent days now parsing his words and concocting a red line that doesn’t exist.
Trump interjected to ask Reid if she was listening so he could reiterate his belief that the liberal media want the economy to suffer and even call her “fake news” (as well as that of another reporter off-screen) (click “expand”):
TRUMP: [J]ust so you understand, are you ready?
REID: Mmhmm.
TRUMP: I think there are certain people that would like it not to open so quickly. I think there are certain people that would like to do financially poorly because they think that would be very good as far as defeating me at the polls and I don't know if that's so, but I do think it's so that there are people in your profession that would like that to happen.
REID: But your own medical experts did not endorse that plan yesterday.
TRUMP: I think it's very clear --- I think it's very clear that there are people in your profession that write fake news. You do. She does.
Reid began to answer with “that’s,” but then stopped and instead shook her head in disapproval.
Before moving on, the President concluded: “There are people in your profession that write fake news. They would love to see me for whatever reason because we've done one hell of a job. Nobody's done the job we've done, and it's lucky that you have this group here for this problem or you wouldn't even have a country left.”
To see the relevant transcript from March 25’s daily briefing, click “expand.”
White House Coronavirus Task Force Briefing
March 25, 2020
6:20 p.m. EasternPAULA REID: Mr. President, you tweeted earlier linking the closing of the country to your election success in November. Is this Easter time line based on your political interests?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: What do you mean by “election success?” No.
REID: You tweeted --- you said that the media wants the country to remain closed to hurt your odds of being reelected.
TRUMP: No, no, no. yeah, no, I think media would like to see me do poorly in the election. I think --- I think ---
REID: Sir, lawmakers and economists on both sides ---
TRUMP: -- I think ---
REID: --- have said that reopening the country by Easter is not a good idea. What is that plan based on?
TRUMP: --- just so you understand, are you ready?
REID: Mmhmm.
TRUMP: I think there are certain people that would like it not to open so quickly. I think there are certain people that would like to do financially poorly because they think that would be very good as far as defeating me at the polls and I don't know if that's so, but I do think it's so that there are people in your profession that would like that to happen.
REID: But your own medical experts did not endorse that plan yesterday.
TRUMP: I think it's very clear --- I think it's very clear that there are people in your profession that write fake news. You do. She does.
REID: That’s – [SHAKES HEAD]
TRUMP: There are people in your profession that write fake news. They would love to see me for whatever reason because we've done one hell of a job. Nobody's done the job we've done, and it's lucky that you have this group here for this problem or you wouldn't even have a country left.
