Every now and then, President Donald Trump does something particularly random and unprecedented, and we never know exactly how to respond when this happens. On Wednesday, such a move occurred when Trump announced on his Twitter account that he was naming winners of — get this — the Fake News Awards. Glad to know that this is how he spent his day.
In a tweet appearing on Wednesday night, Trump wrote, “And the FAKE NEWS winners are…” and then linked to a blog post on the GOP’s website. According to the New York Times, this list, described as “an anti-media project,” was actually expected after weeks of “cryptic clues.” Back in November, Trump had teased about awarding a “fake news trophy,” but who knew he was actually going to follow through?
We should have a contest as to which of the Networks, plus CNN and not including Fox, is the most dishonest, corrupt and/or distorted in its political coverage of your favorite President (me). They are all bad. Winner to receive the FAKE NEWS TROPHY!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2017
If that wasn’t bizarre enough, the president confirmed on Jan. 7 that the awards, going to the “most corrupt and biased of the Mainstream Media,” would be released this Wednesday. He claimed that the interest in the awards was “far greater than anyone could have anticipated.”
The Fake News Awards, those going to the most corrupt & biased of the Mainstream Media, will be presented to the losers on Wednesday, January 17th, rather than this coming Monday. The interest in, and importance of, these awards is far greater than anyone could have anticipated!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2018
Although his link in Wednesday’s tweet initially led to an error page explaining that the site was offline, the technical glitch was resolved less than an hour later.
And the FAKE NEWS winners are…https://t.co/59G6x2f7fD
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018
The list of “winners,” entitled “The Highly Anticipated 2017 Fake News Awards,” is credited to the combined forces of Team GOP. Coming in at the top of the list was New York Times op-ed columnist Paul Krugman, who claimed that the economy would never recover after Trump won the presidential election on Nov. 8, 2016. Wait, I thought we were just talking about 2017 news?
The blog post also called out ABC News journalist Brian Ross, who was suspended after delivering a false on-air report about Michael Flynn, and various news organizations as a whole. CNN was mentioned four times for allegedly publishing inaccurate news and the Times was listed twice. Also included were The Washington Post, TIME and Newsweek.
Following the publication of the list, Trump clarified that he still respected many reporters.
Despite some very corrupt and dishonest media coverage, there are many great reporters I respect and lots of GOOD NEWS for the American people to be proud of!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018
Well, this is certainly a first. Given the way Trump is, I wouldn’t be surprised if this becomes an annual tradition for him.