This is something you don’t see very often.
Last night Trump went after two Fox News reporters, John Roberts and Gillian Turner, suggesting they don’t know what they are talking about when it comes to the wall negotiations:
Never thought I’d say this but I think @johnrobertsFox and @GillianHTurner @FoxNews have even less understanding of the Wall negotiations than the folks at FAKE NEWS CNN & NBC! Look to final results! Don’t know how my poll numbers are so good, especially up 19% with Hispanics?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 28, 2019
I’m not sure exactly what Roberts or Turner said about Trump to deserve be singled out by Trump, but clearly he wasn’t happy with something they reported about him.
A Fox News anchor stepped in to defend them from Trump’s criticism:
@realDonaldTrump This is NOT right. I stand by my colleagues @johnrobertsFox and @GillianHTurner They don’t deserve this. No reporter does. They are doing their jobs and reporting the facts. They are not opinion journalists and deserve the respect from the @WhiteHouse they cover. https://t.co/ftRPauopjC
— Julie Banderas (@JulieBanderas) January 28, 2019
She doesn’t address what they said either, but only the fact that they are hard news reporters and they are just reporting the facts.
Banderas went on to accuse Trump of putting a target on their backs and ripped him for bullying their reporters:
By going on Twitter and insulting two of our journalists @realDonaldTrump is putting a target on their backs. In turn his followers will then attack @johnrobertsFox and @GillianHTurner in support on Twitter. Bullying journalists is not Presidential. Period. https://t.co/xayShIojYj
— Julie Banderas (@JulieBanderas) January 28, 2019
She’s not wrong about this not being presidential. We all know Trump isn’t the most presidential president we’ve ever had. Just look at how he treated Jeff Sessions on Twitter.
I can’t really speak to Turner, but for the most part I’ve always found John Robert’s reporting to be solid and factual.
But I guess whatever he said wasn’t good enough for Trump…