President Donald Trump attacked the news media at the beginning of a Make America Great Again rally in Indiana Thursday evening.
“These are just dishonest, terrible people,” Trump said of the news media, adding “Not all of them. Honestly, not all of them. I would say 85%.” The president’s riff came after decrying a recent New York Times story which characterized one of his recent rallies as lacking in enthusiasm.
“She made the statement that President Trump was disappointed to see some empty chairs. Yeah, they are going to the bathroom may be,” Trump said of the NYTimes reporter.
Trump has riffed on the number of people in the news media he considers to be “enemies of the people” before. The president has been criticized for the use of the phrase which some consider to be incitement of violence against journalists.
Trump explained his use of the phrase in a recent tweet:
They asked my daughter Ivanka whether or not the media is the enemy of the people. She correctly said no. It is the FAKE NEWS, which is a large percentage of the media, that is the enemy of the people!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 2, 2018