President Trump on Monday slammed “dishonest” CNN and “Fake NBC” over their criticism of Sinclair Broadcasting for allegedly using its local television stations to push a right-leaning agenda.
Trump tweeted: “So funny to watch Fake News Networks, among the most dishonest groups of people I have ever dealt with, criticize Sinclair Broadcasting for being biased. Sinclair is far superior to CNN and even more Fake NBC, which is a total joke.”
Sinclair, which owns about 200 stations across the country, had its anchors run news segments and opinion pieces that some claim have a conservative tilt to them. The segments ran alongside standard news coverage, taking aim at liberal media outlets.
Local anchors warned viewers about fake news, promised to report fairly and urged watchers to go to the station’s website and report any questionable reporting. According to a memo obtained by CNNMoney, Sinclair’s senior vice president of news directed the local stations to read the script about fake stories and personal bias.
Several anchors also repeated the lines:
“This is extremely dangerous to our democracy.”
“Some members of the media use their platforms to push their own personal agenda.”
“The sharing of biased and false news has become all too common on social media.”
Sinclair regularly sends video segments to stations it owns across the country. These “must-runs” also include commentators speaking in support of Trump as well as terrorism updates. The promos started airing in late March. It is unclear if any stations have refused to broadcast them. Calls to Sinclair for comment were not immediately returned.
