Trump brags about press conference viewership as US death toll tops 45,000: 'Ratings are through the roof'
President Donald Trump has been religiously conducting press briefings at the White House over the developments of the coronavirus situation in the US, and these press meets turn out to be a top attraction not only for official updates on the pandemic but also because of the president’s carefree rhetoric.
Trump himself knows that his style of communication sells well with his supporters and the media—even those who are critical. On Tuesday, April 21, he bragged about his press briefings at the White House.
Trump, who has been a TV celebrity, said in a tweet that he always had great ratings throughout his life and claimed the news conferences that he holds are “through the roof”, rivaling the high viewerships of some of the most popular TV shows and media outlets.
The election-bound incumbent, however, added that he is not bothered too much about the ratings but the fact that he avoids ‘Fake News’ to reach the people themselves. Trump has been seen taking on the mainstream media often at his coronavirus press briefings as it has continued to criticize him over his administration’s handling of the crisis.
“I’ve had great ‘ratings’ my whole life, there’s nothing unusual about that for me. The White House News Conference ratings are 'through the roof' (Monday Night Football, Bachelor Finale, @nytimes),” Trump tweeted, adding: “[B]ut I don't care about that. I care about going around the Fake News to the PEOPLE!”
Trump’s boastful post came when the US is struggling hard to contain the coronavirus outbreak. Till date, the country has seen over 825,000 people getting affected by the deadly virus while more than 45,000 have lost their lives.
Trump’s coronavirus press briefings, which take place almost daily, also feature members of his task force to deal with the crisis. It includes Vice President Mike Pence, the country’s top infectious-disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci, among others. It’s not always that the administration comes up with perfect responses to queries and there are also instances when consistency is found to be lacking among the versions of different members, including that of Trump.
Trump, in fact, started a Twitter rant on Tuesday in which he not only patted his own back as the country’s commander-in-chief but claimed that he has a near-perfect approval rate in the Republican Party but also lashed out at the “dishonest Lamestream Media” for attacking him continuously.
“It is amazing that I became President of the United States with such a totally corrupt and dishonest Lamestream Media going after me all day, and all night,” the president said, adding: “Either I'm really good, far better than the Fake News wants to admit, or they don't have nearly the power as once thought!”
Trump says 96% GOP approval rating shows he's doing great on COVID-19
In another tweet, he said he has 96 percent approval in the GOP which only indicated that his administration is doing a commendable job in tackling the pandemic.
Trump has bagged the Republican presidential nomination this year with almost no resistance and as per a Gallup Poll tracker of his approval rate between April 1 and 14, he has 93 percent acceptance in his own party even though his critics have targeted him time and again accusing him of succeeding little in handling the crisis situation.
Last month, Trump cited a report of the New York Times, an outlet with which he shares an endless rivalry, to show that his press briefings matched the viewership of The Bachelor’ finale and Monday Night football. The report said the president’s coronavirus briefings get an average viewership of 8.5 million on cable news, which is roughly equal to that of a season finale of ‘The Bachelor’ witnesses.
On a Monday in late March, over 12 million saw Trump’s briefing on CNN, Fox News and MSNBC combined and that rivalled the viewership of Monday Night football. Over 9 million people saw Trump’s briefings on April 5 on CNN, MSNBC and Fox.
In yet another tweet posted during his online tirade on Tuesday, Trump slammed MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’, saying they are “nuts” and accused host Joe Scarborough of harboring “hatred and contempt”.