Trump Calls for Boycott of CNN Parent Company To Combat 'Fake News'
After arriving in the United Kingdom for a state visit on Monday, President Donald Trump called for a boycott of CNN’s parent company, AT&T.
“Just arrived in the United Kingdom. The only problem is that @CNN is the primary source of news available from the U.S. After watching it for a short while, I turned it off,” the president tweeted.
Just arrived in the United Kingdom. The only problem is that @CNN is the primary source of news available from the U.S. After watching it for a short while, I turned it off. All negative & so much Fake News, very bad for U.S. Big ratings drop. Why doesn’t owner @ATT do something?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 3, 2019
“All negative & so much Fake News, very bad for U.S. Big ratings drop. Why doesn’t owner @ATT do something?” he added.
In a follow-up tweet, Trump suggested that if people boycotted AT&T, the company would be forced to make changes at CNN.
“I believe that if people stop[p]ed using or subscribing to @ATT, they would be forced to make big changes at @CNN, which is dying in the ratings anyway,” Trump wrote.
I believe that if people stoped using or subscribing to @ATT, they would be forced to make big changes at @CNN, which is dying in the ratings anyway. It is so unfair with such bad, Fake News! Why wouldn’t they act. When the World watches @CNN, it gets a false picture of USA. Sad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 3, 2019
“It is so unfair with such bad, Fake News! Why wouldn’t they act. When the World watches @CNN, it gets a false picture of USA. Sad!” he added.
Trump has repeatedly attacked CNN in the past for its coverage of him, referring to the network as “fake news.”
CNN reporter Hadas Gold, who works in the London bureau, told host John King on Monday that Trump’s call for a boycott of AT&T is “norm-shattering.”
“A president calling for an economic boycott of one of the largest telecommunications companies because he doesn’t like their news network … is completely norm-shattering,” says @Hadas_Gold, as President Trump suggests a boycott of AT&T for carrying CNN. https://t.co/JSCy2AGhhF pic.twitter.com/iNcP2W94dW
— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) June 3, 2019
“A president calling for an economic boycott of one of the largest telecommunications companies because he doesn’t like their news network, or that this network is available all over the world, is completely norm-shattering,” Gold told King.
“But not only is this norm-shattering, these tweets only further bolster all of these accusations and theories that were flying around, that when the administration first sued to stop AT&T from merging with CNN’s parent company that was then called Time Warner, that it was all about politics,” she added.
The Department of Justice sued in November 2017 as part of an attempt to block AT&T’s purchase of Time Warner.
Ultimately, the deal went through anyway.
AT&T acquired CNN as part of its $85 billion purchase of Time Warner assets, according to Fox Business.
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