Donald Trump accused of inciting violence against journalists over video of him ‘body-slamming’ CNN

CNN accused President Donald Trump of encouraging violence against journalists after he posted a video on social media showing himself body slamming and repeatedly punching a man with the cable news network’s logo superimposed on his face.
In the latest escalation of his war with the US news media the footage showed Mr Trump during a choreographed appearance attacking a rival at WrestleMania in 2007.
Mr Trump stayed on the attack later in the day, stating on Twitter that “the dishonest media will NEVER keep us from accomplishing our objectives on behalf of our GREAT AMERICAN PEOPLE!”
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“It is a sad day when the President of the United States encourages violence against reporters,” CNN responded in a statement. Carl Bernstein, the Watergate journalist who is now a CNN commentator, called the video “very disturbing”.
The latest controversy came as Mr Trump rejected growing appeals from senior Republicans to stop using the micro-blogging site Twitter to communicate with his millions of followers.
They said his engagement in increasingly vicious feuds with the news media and individual TV presenters on Twitter was demeaning the office of president and overshadowing attempts in Congress to push forward his legislative agenda including healthcare and tax reform.
However, Mr Trump vowed to continue his combative approach. He wrote on Twitter: “My use of social media is not Presidential – it’s MODERN DAY PRESIDENTIAL. The FAKE & FRAUDULENT NEWS MEDIA is working hard to convince Republicans and others I should not use social media.
“But remember, I won the 2016 election with interviews, speeches and social media. I had to beat Fake News, and did. We will continue to WIN!”
At a rally for military veterans in Washington he added: “The fake media is trying to silence us but we will not let them. Because the people know the truth. The fake media tried to stop us from going to the White House. But I’m president and they’re not. Their agenda is not your agenda.”
In its response to the wrestling video CNN highlighted a comment made earlier this week by White House deputy press secretary Sarah Sanders.
She told the White House press briefing: “The president in no way, form, or fashion has ever encouraged any form of violence.”
A CNN spokesman said in a statement: “Clearly, Sarah Sanders lied. Instead of preparing for his overseas trip, his first meeting with Vladimir Putin, dealing with North Korea, and working on his healthcare bill, he is instead involved in juvenile behaviour far below the dignity of his office. We will keep doing out jobs. He should start doing his.”

Bruce Brown, the executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, condemned the video as a “threat of physical violence against journalists.” He said Trump’s tweet was “beneath the office of the presidency.”
A White House aide insisted the tweet should not send a chill across the media landscape.
“I think that no one would perceive that as a threat,” homeland security adviser Tom Bossert said. “I hope they don’t. But I do think that he’s beaten up in a way on cable platforms that he has a right to respond to.”
The WrestleMania video Mr Trump tweeted was from when he took on Vince McMahon, head of World Wrestling Entertainment, in what was billed as a “battle of the billionaires” a decade ago.
Both men were allowed to pick a wrestler to fight for them but there was also a choreographed encounter in which Mr Trump attacked Mr McMahon at the side of the ring. Mr McMahon’s wife Linda is now head of Mr Trump’s Small Business Administration.
The version of the video with the CNN logo superimposed over Mr McMahon’s face was posted several days ago by a Reddit user with the title, “Trump takes down fake news.” It was not clear whether that was where it originated or where Trump found it. Still, the user wrote Sunday about being “honoured” Trump had tweeted the video. The user who posted the video has a history of posts using anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant language.
It may have been posted on Mr Trump’s Twitter account by his social media director Dan Scavino and was accompanied by a message calling CNN “FraudNewsCNN”. Mr Trump has upped his attacks on CNN since three of its senior journalists resigned a week ago and the network apologised for, and retracted, a story linking an ally of Mr Trump’s to Russia.
The president said the incident had “exposed CNN as fake news and garbage journalism”.
It came following a week in which Mr Trump was criticised by Democrats and Republicans for attacking television news presenter Mika Brzezinski, claiming she was “bleeding badly from a face-lift” and accusing her of being “dumb as a rock”. She responded by claiming that the president was “not well”.