Trump Tweet Distinguishes 'Fake' From 'Real' News

President Donald Trump may be trying to finesse his media attacks a bit, or maybe not.

In a tweet Monday morning (April 17), Trump's latest attack was: "The Fake Media (not Real Media) has gotten even worse since the election. Every story is badly slanted. We have to hold them to the truth!"

He did not say what the "real media" was, but the tweet at least suggested he might see a difference, though it could have been a carve-out for Fox & Friends, which he has consistently praised in recent weeks while hammering other news shows.

Over the weekend, Trump reminded his Twitter followers that he had won the election, that the election was over, and that the previous eight years of foreign policy had been a total failure, of which he said, "So true."

But not long after the tweet suggesting there was at least a "real news" against which to judge the fake, Trump and the Republican National Committee had taken out their broad brush once again.

In an effort to raise money for a special election Tuesday in Georgia in which the Republicans face a tough challenge, "Team Trump" sent out an e-mail Monday asking for money on the argument that it was needed to "cut through the noise of the fake news media."

Trump also tweeted that the Democrat in the Georgia race "wants to protect criminals." The seat was once held by former Speaker of the House and Trump advisor Newt Gingrich.

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.