In a very funny moment during the Wednesday, June 18 ceremony at the White House in which President Trump had two new flag poles raised on the North and South Lawns, the president hilariously jibed at the CNN White House correspondent there to cover the ceremony, Alayna Treene.
As background, the president announced the new flag poles would be put up in a post on Tuesday, June 17, in which he said, “It is my Great Honor to announce that I will be putting up two beautiful Flag Poles on both sides of the White House, North and South Lawns. It is a GIFT from me of something which was always missing from this magnificent place.”
Then, describing the event and poles, he wrote, “The digging and placement of the poles will begin at 7:30 A.M. EST, tomorrow morning. Flags will be raised at approximately 11 A.M. EST. These are the most magnificent poles made – They are tall, tapered, rust proof, rope inside the pole, and of the highest quality. Hopefully, they will proudly stand at both sides of the White House for many years to come!”
So, it was that event that Treene was there to cover, and she did so by asking about potential American involvement in Iran, which wasn’t really related to the ceremony, but was nonetheless still a topic of concern on Wednesday. Beginning, she asked, “Mr. President some of your supporters are splitting on the U.S. response to–.” Trump, cutting in, asked, “Who are you with?”
That’s when she told him that she was with CNN, trying to go from that to asking her question. She said, “CNN. There’s a split though–” Cutting her off again and scoffing as he did so, President Trump then roasted her network and said no one watches it, telling her, “Fake news, fortunately nobody watched it.”
Treene yet again tried asking her question, saying, “But my question is…” Trump, still not having it, continued to bash on CNN and note that its rating have been falling like a rock for many years as Americans tune out. He said, “Is anybody watching CNN nowadays? I haven’t seen it in a long time.”
He was then yet again asked about the Iran situation: “So some of your supporters are wary of the U.S. getting involved in another foreign war, and some believe that we should support it.” Annoyed, he noted that the question wasn’t positive, snapping, “Do you ever ask a positive question at CNN?”
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He then shut down the idea that his supporters don’t like him anymore, noting that he won the election massively and that his key supporters have remained consistenly behind him. He said, “My supporters are more in love with me today, and I’m in love with them more than they were even at election time, where we had a total landslide.”
Concluding, he noted that he won all the swing states and a huge majority of the districts, saying, “We had, you know, we won all seven swing states . . . We won all 7 out of 7, which everyone said would be almost impossible. We won by millions of votes. We won 2,750 districts versus 505 districts. Think of that 2,750 versus 505. And CNN…”
Watch the incident here: