Trump Slams CNN for Reports Disputing Voter Fraud Claims

President-elect Donald Trump took aim at CNN late Monday (Nov. 28) and early Tuesday (Nov. 29) in a string of tweets claiming the news outlet was in the tank for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

"@CNN is so embarrassed by their total (100%) support of Hillary Clinton, and yet her loss in a landslide, that they don't know what to do," Trump said Monday night via a tweet, his preferred form of commentary.

He followed Tuesday morning with "I thought that @CNN would get better after they failed so badly in their support of Hillary Clinton however, since election, they are worse!"

Trump's comments followed CNN reports disputing his claims that millions of illegal votes had been cast in the election. The cable news network had reported that his fraud claims were not only unsubstantiated but simply untrue and posited that Trump may have gotten the "millions" figure from conspiracy theorists.

Facing various recount efforts in swing states, led by Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein and subsequently supported by the Clinton camp, Trump had tweeted: "Serious voter fraud in Virginia, New Hampshire and California - so why isn't the media reporting on this? Serious bias - big problem!"

Candidate Trump had been a long and strong critic of journalists, insulting them and accusing major media outlets of being part of a conspiracy to defeat him. President-elect Trump has also continued his media attacks, last week saying in response to reports on his administration's potential conflicts of interest: "Prior to the election it was well known that I have interests in properties all over the world. Only the crooked media makes this a big deal!

The voter fraud story, which has been reported by other media outlets including The Washington Post, has ramped up Trump's attacks. CNN has also launched a new ongoing segment focused on those potential conflicts of interest.

A CNN spokesperson had no comment on Trump's latest criticisms.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.