Power

Trump Tells CPAC He’s Mad Media Is Reporting on White House

"They’re very smart, they’re very cunning and they’re very dishonest," President Trump told the crowd of conservative activists.

Trump has repeatedly attacked media outlets for reporting on his administration. The president went so far as to allege last week in a tweet that the media is “the enemy of the American People." Olivier Douliery - Pool/Getty Images

President Trump attacked the media during his Friday speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), baselessly stating that reporting on him and his administration has been an attempt to suppress his electoral popularity.

Speaking at the conservative conference just outside of Washington, D.C., Trump doubled down on his administration’s suggestion that the media is the “opposition party.”

“They make up sources,” Trump alleged without evidence. “They’re very dishonest people.” He said journalists “shouldn’t be allowed to use sources unless they use somebody’s name.” As the Associated Press reported, “Members of Trump’s White House team regularly demand anonymity when talking to reporters.”

Trump has repeatedly attacked media outlets for reporting on his administration. The president went so far as to allege last week in a tweet that the media is “the enemy of the American People.”

“I’m not against the media,” Trump told the room of conservative activists Friday morning. “I’m not against the press. I don’t mind bad stories if I deserve them …. I am only against the fake news, media, or press.”

Trump mentioned CBS, ABC, and NBC News, and offered pre-election polls as an example of the media getting news about him wrong. He suggested that election polling created a “false narrative” to keep people from voting for him.

“They’re so bad, so inaccurate and what that does is it creates a false narrative,” claimed Trump. “It creates like this narrative that is just like we’re not going to win, people say, I love Trump, but you know, I’m not feeling great today, he can’t win, so I won’t go and vote. I won’t go and vote. It creates a whole false deal. And we have to fight it, folks, we have to fight it. They’re very smart, they’re very cunning and they’re very dishonest.”

Trump after his election victory has continuously alleged without evidence that voter fraud played a role in him losing the popular vote by about 2.9 million votes.

Voting rights advocates caution that Trump’s unsupported rhetoric about voting could pave the way for federal and state level voter restrictions such as photo identification laws. Such measures disproportionately keep voters of color and those with low incomes from accessing the ballot box.

Trump acknowledged during his CPAC speech that the activists in his room were his base. “I love this place. I love you people,” he said. “I wouldn’t miss a chance to talk to my friends. These are my friends.”

Trump first rolled out his anti-choice viewpoints in a 2011 CPAC address. The speech represented a shift for the businessman who had previously claimed he was “very pro-choice” years earlier.

Though Trump didn’t mention abortion rights during his Friday speech, Vice President Pence said during his Thursday address to the conference that the Trump administration is “restoring the culture of life” on the federal level. He promised that the administration would ensure the Hyde Amendment’s annual ban on federal funding for most abortions would become “permanent.”

CORRECTION: A version of this article incorrectly noted that President Trump lost the 2016 popular vote by more than 3 million votes.