President Trump took pains to condemn mainstream news organizations overnight, recharacterizing them as “enemies of the people” and declaring their audience numbers “a good thing.”
“Oh! Rachel Maddow has horrible ratings. She'll be on the air soon. MSNBC is near death. CNN has hit rock bottom. This is a good thing. They are the enemy of the people.” , Trump wrote in a Truth social post just after midnight Friday.
Maddow, MSNBC's star anchor, returned to host the prime-time show for President Trump's first 100 days.
Trump has been critical of the country's major media outlets for years. During his first term, some outlets, including CNN and the Washington Post, experienced a so-called “Trump bump” with aggressive coverage of the commander-in-chief in the audience.
This time, some of these major outlets are considering a reset as they set out to cover Trump's second foray into the White House.
“It’s clear that the biggest losers of the 2024 election were the mainstream media,” one national political reporter told The Hill last week. “Many of these outlets are completely gone, and the atmosphere is basically one of fear and anxiety for Trump to take over again.”
CNN plans to lay off about 6% of its workforce, impacting about 200 employees on the linear TV side. The network also plans to make changes to its daytime and evening newscasts.
Aside from Trump's social media criticism, the news organization has also been in a legitimate battle with the president.
ABC News in December settled with Trump for $15 million after star anchor George Stephanopoulos was sued for defamation over a segment. There, a New York jury found “blame for rape” in columnist E. Jean Carroll's case. Trump was found liable for sexual abuse under state law, but not rape.
The president's legal team also sued CBS News over an interview with former Vice President Harris, then the Democratic nominee, on “60 Minutes” in early October 2024. They are seeking $10 billion in damages, alleging that the news program engaged in “acts of election and voter interference and acts of voter interference through malicious, deceptive and material distortion of news.” It claims that Harris edited the answers he gave on the war in Gaza.
A network spokesperson said Trump's claims to “60 Minutes” are “false.”
