He entered office with 20 million Twitter followers. He is leaving office with zero.
Trump granted 119 interviews to Fox News, per @markknoller. He granted zero to CNN. This chart reminds me of a middle finger.
Trump began his term with a 44% approval rating, according to CNN polling, and ended with a 34% approval rating. @FiveThirtyEight's data shows relative steadiness across hundreds of polls by scores of outfits.
From Trump's inauguration to the market close Tuesday, the S&P 500 was up 67%, per @CNNBusiness. (In case you're wondering, stocks were up 83% at this point in Barack Obama's presidency.)
NBC's @oneunderscore__ said "Please realize that in six months, there will be a part of pro-Trump media that becomes full 1/6 Truthers." I decided to turn on One America News, and I saw that it's already happening. On one of the president's favorite channels.
I watched ten random minutes of @OANN in the 10am hour and heard the pro-Trump riot sanitized as "the Capitol Hill incident;" heard it was a "very small crowd" of "troublemakers;" heard the scene was "nothing like" a war zone; and heard "there were clearly agitators in there."
"Antifa did it" lie is big on OAN. TWICE today, anchors said these exact words: "A self-described member of Antifa from New York is facing charges for allegedly stabbing 2 people during the protest at the Capitol." That happened in ALBANY, NEW YORK. But they made it sound like DC
First: @JakeTapper becomes the network's "lead anchor for all major Washington events." Translating newsroom lingo: When it's time to project the winner of the 2024 presidential election, Tapper will break the news.
>> @JakeTapper's @TheLeadCNN expands to TWO hours, 4 to 6pm ET, beginning in April. Tapper will continue on Sundays, now as the CO-anchor of @CNNSOTU, with @DanaBashCNN anchoring every other week.
If someone managed to sleep through the Trump years, and asked me what they'd missed, I'd start with "enemy of the people." Why? Because Trump's demonization of the media explains almost everything... cnn.com/2020/12/28/med…
Trump convinced his fans that the people covering him were lying. He told them to trust Fox and reject other info sources. On his very first weekend in office, he said he was in a "running war with the media." There were no "winners" in this "war..." cnn.com/videos/busines…
Many times, in many influential corners of the media, there was an impulse to ignore Trump's anti-media attacks. But the poison seeped in anyway. It's what caused some of the fractures in America and exacerbated so many of the others. And the poison was advertised as an antidote!
Thread: After four years of undermining and demeaning the news media, President Trump has a chance to pay tribute to the profession. And he's apparently going to take it. One of his final acts in office will revolve around a federal celebration of the press. Here's why... (1/4)
The Fallen Journalists Memorial has been in the works for more than a year. H.R. 3465 allows a foundation to "establish a commemorative work on federal land" honoring America's commitment to a free press and "journalists who sacrificed their lives in service to that cause." (2/4)
The bill unanimously passed the Senate 3 weeks ago. I've been monitoring its progress, wondering if Trump might veto it, since he has led a hate movement against the media for four years. But a White House official tells CNN that Trump IS planning to sign the bill into law. (3/4)
Surveying some of Thursday's local and regional papers, starting with the @PressTelegram. Southern California News Group's papers have this quote, "IT'S UP TO US TO STOP THE SURGE," across the front page
The Chicago Tribune's front page is a play on words about the vaccine: "Waiting on pins and needles"
This is a stark front page of the @IndyStar, sharing Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb's warning that "the state of Indiana is on fire" due to Covid, with doctors and nurses "overwhelmed."