‘Slanted against the Republican party’: Trump takes aim at CNN with new ratings jab

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump escalated his attacks on CNN Friday, September 18, accusing the network itself of being “slanted against the Republican Party” in a Truth Social post.

Trump also claimed CNN was failing and said its audience had become small, while separately targeting the network’s White House reporters.

The post came after Trump had repeatedly clashed with CNN journalists, including chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins earlier this month.

Donald Trump takes aim at CNN itself

“Unwatchable and Failing CNN is so dishonest,” Trump wrote Friday. “Everything they say is slanted against the Republican Party. They are truly FAKE NEWS! Thankfully, very few people are watching!”

The latest attack broadened Trump’s criticism from individual CNN reporters to the network itself. 

His post did not identify a specific report or broadcast as the basis for the accusation.

Trump had previously targeted Collins after a CNN panel discussed the energy and attendance at one of his recent rallies in South Carolina.

“Very dumb and unhappy Fake News CNN ‘reporter,’ Kaitlan Collins (really low ratings, also!), had a panel where discussions were all FICTION AND LIES,” Trump wrote in his September 8 post. 

President Trump previously attacked Kaitlan Collins

The CNN dispute followed comments from New York Times reporter Shawn McCreesh during a panel hosted by Collins. 

McCreesh said he had attended Trump’s rally in Myrtle Beach the previous month while the president campaigned for Sen Darline Graham in the Republican primary runoff.

“I have to tell you, the energy in the room was really, really low,” McCreesh said. “The place was not packed, the seats were full, but the back half of the convention center was empty.”

Trump responded by criticizing both Collins and CNN’s ratings, writing that the network was “suffering terribly in the TV Ratings.”

He also said CNN should “get rid of their 3rd rate ‘anchors,’ and try to bring credibility back to their once storied network.”

Collins has faced repeated criticism from Trump, including at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in late July, when he again berated her for “never smiling.”

CNN has defended its White House reporters

Collins later said on The Daily Show that she tried not to make Trump’s attacks the focus of her work.

“I’ve always felt this, regardless of who's the president, whether it's Joe Biden, Donald Trump,” Collins said. “It's really not about me, and I don't want it to be about my reaction.”

She said she believed viewers should instead focus on the questions being asked and the answers provided by the president.

“I just think in those moments, it's important to put the reminder back on the work, on the question, and on the non-answers that we get,” Collins said.

Trump’s broader criticism of CNN has also included an August attack on senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes after she questioned him about a remark from Democratic Sen Jon Ossoff.

The White House called Holmes a “disgraceful, humiliating embarrassment to her alleged profession,” while Trump told her, “You’re fake news. You’re a loud boisterous person.”

CNN defended Holmes, calling her “one of the most respected and accomplished journalists covering the White House” and saying she had asked Trump a “tough, relevant, and newsworthy question on behalf of the American people.”