Plus, he explains why Obama was better. True and funny!
'You don't get to tell us what to do': Fox News anchor
confronts Reince Priebus over Trump's media criticism
Maxwell Tani
Business Insider
Fox News anchor Chris Wallace pressed President Donald Trump's
chief of staff, Reince Priebus, to explain why the president characterized the
media as the "enemy of the
American people."
In an interview on "Fox News Sunday," Wallace asked Priebus if Trump believes that "a free and independent press is a threat to the country."
Priebus attempted to soften Trump's claim,
saying the president was referring to reports that members of Trump's
presidential campaign communicated with Russian intelligence officials during
the campaign.
"There are certain things that are happening
in the news that just aren't honest. We're not talking about everyone, Chris.
We're not talking about all news. We are talking about something he's termed as
fake news," Priebus said.
When the chief of staff dismissed the
recent reports about Trump's potential ties to Russia as "total
garbage," Wallace said the president's rhetoric did not have the
nuance Priebus was articulating.
"Reince, here's the problem. I don't
have any problem with you complaining about an individual story. We sometimes
get it wrong, you guys sometimes get it wrong. I don't have any problem with
you complaining about bias," Wallace said.
"But
the president went a lot further than that. He said that the 'fake media,' not
certain stories, the 'fake media,' are an enemy to the country. We don't have a
state-run media in this country. That's what they have in dictatorships,"
Wallace continued.
Priebus argued that "other cable
stations, not necessarily Fox," only briefly covered events like Trump's
meetings with foreign leaders and announcement of the president's Supreme
Court nominee, saying outlets instead focused on ties between Russia and
the Trump campaign "all day long, on every chyron, every seven
minutes."
"As soon as it was over, the next
20 hours is all about Russian spies, how no one gets along, how
nothing's happening. Give me a break," Priebus said.
"You don't get to tell us what to do,
Reince. You don't get to tell us what to do any more than Barack Obama did.
Barack Obama whined about Fox News all the time, but I've got to say, he never
said we were an enemy of the people," Wallace replied.
After Priebus said he was
"surprised" Wallace would forget "all the shots" that Obama
took at Fox News, the anchor interjected.
"He
took the shots, and we didn't like them, and frankly, we don't like this
either. But he never went as far as President Trump has. And that's what's
concerning. Because it seems like he crosses a line when he says that we're the
enemy of the people," Wallace said.
"I think you should be concerned about
mainstream news outlets that are acting like Washington daily gossip
magazines," Priebus replied.
Though media criticism was a staple of his
presidential campaign, Trump has ratcheted up his attacks on many established outlets of late, singling out CNN, the Wall Street
Journal, and the New York Times for publishing negative reports about his
White House, often relying on anonymous sources.
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