President Donald Trump is pictured.

Throughout his campaign and into his presidency, Trump has disparaged news outlets, such as The New York Times and CNN. | Getty

Trump tweets fake video of him attacking CNN

President Donald Trump on Sunday tweeted an edited professional-wrestling video of him tackling a man with the CNN logo superimposed on his head, giving the impression that he was advocating for violence against the network.

The video, which was an edited from when Trump appeared on WWE several years ago, was first posted on Reddit.

Story Continued Below

A CNN spokeswoman said in a statement Sunday: "It is a sad day when the President of the United States encourages violence against reporters."

"Instead of preparing for his overseas trip, his first meeting with Vladimir Putin, dealing with North Korea and working on his health care bill, he is instead involved in juvenile behavior far below the dignity of his office. WE will keep doing our jobs. He should start doing his," the statement continued.


Based on a viewing of what appears to be the original video, the person whose face is covered by the logo would seem to be wrestling mogul Vince McMahon. His wife, Linda, is now Trump's head of the Small Business Administration. The footage is from a 2007 Wrestlemania event.

Throughout his campaign and into his presidency, Trump has disparaged news outlets, such as The New York Times and CNN.

Speaking on Brian Stelter's media show on CNN, Carl Bernstein called the wrestling tweet "an index of his state of mind."

"It's just not anti-CNN, it's anti-freedom of the press," said the legendary Washington Post figure.

Stelter raised the question of whether the video, as a possible incitement to violence, might violate Twitter's terms of service.

Trump's feud with CNN escalated this past week after the network retracted a story in late June that cited an anonymous source saying the Senate Intelligence Committee was looking into the chief executive of a $10 billion Russian investment fund who met with financier Anthony Scaramucci, a member of Trump's transition team, before the inauguration.

The White House has since cited the incident as evidence of media bias.

On Saturday, the president tweeted: "I am thinking about changing the name #FakeNews CNN to #FraudNewsCNN"

On Sunday, CNN's statement also accused deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders of lying when she said the president has not encouraged violence against reporters.

On Thursday, Sanders said: "The President in no way, form or fashion has ever promoted or encouraged violence. If anything, quite the contrary."

The video also comes weeks after Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs was body-slammed by Greg Gianforte, who was then a congressional candidate in Montana. Gianforte went on to win in the special election.