Trump’s fake news claims: inaccurate, hypocritical
April 10, 2017
Being informed on current events is one of the most important factors an effective U.S. citizen can have. Whether news is gathered from online sources or a physical paper, it’s important that news is credible. President Trump has recently used the media as a way to form the way people look at him. Claiming credible news sources as ‘fake news’ to make himself look better, needs to stop.
Fake news networks are sources that publish stories with false facts for the public to read and develop ideas based on incorrect information. The difference between actual fake news and Trump’s ideas of fake news is that the networks Trump has targeted are credible sources that state facts, rather than click bait articles who’s goal is to make money off of false information.
At the Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump said, “Look at how inaccurate — look at CBS, look at ABC also. Look at NBC. Take a look at some of these polls. They’re so bad, so inaccurate.”
During numerous different speeches, Trump has stated facts that are completely inaccurate, yet blames news sources for stating “false information”. How does Trump expect citizens to believe his claims on fake news if the information he states is false? For example, Trump claimed NBC, CBS and ABC as fake election polls, but refused to notice that the polls were based off of the popular vote, not the electoral. His false information about the polls is now what he uses to consider ‘fake news’.
On Feb. 17, Trump tweeted, “The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!” after a press conference where he refused to answer questions about Russian influence. What makes Trump’s claims extremely unsettling is that in history, Nazi government, Soviet government and the French government during the French revolution, have all made claims towards those against their views and how they are ‘enemies of the people’.
The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!
— Donald J. Trump
The main problem with these claims is that Trump doesn’t necessarily understand what fake news is. One could call Trump a source of fake news because of the way he states inaccurate facts during press conferences.
At a rally in Florida on Feb. 18, Trump said, “You look at what’s happening in Germany, you look at what’s happening last night in Sweden,” claiming that a terrorist attack had occurred in Sweden the previous night. No terrorist attack happened and once people around the world began to realize this, Trump’s Press Secretary said that he was referring to rising crime, not a terrorist attack. The error in Trump’s excuse is that there was no increase in crime in Sweden from 2015-2016, according to the New York Times. Which shows that he needs to become more informed on what is happening in the world and how to phrase his speeches in a clear way.
Many could argue that Trump makes these claims because the media has been “out to get him” since his election started, but the main problem Trump has with the media is that he doesn’t agree with their opinions. The best way for Trump to combat the media for portraying him poorly, is to do something to make the media portray him better, rather than make it seem as if they’re out to get him.
Trump needs to become more informed on topics he is discussing to allow for informed citizens. In order for Americans to understand whats happening in the world, it’s important that they can decipher the difference between actual fake news and Trump’s version of fake news.
Michael VanLieshout • Nov 9, 2017 at 8:02 am
A very well written and informative article. Are we really surprised that Donald Trump was deceitful?
Megan Ramberg • May 7, 2017 at 11:18 pm
I really love how this article addresses polarizing opinions of fake news and direct quotes/sources. Very well written!
Grace McDonough • May 7, 2017 at 8:54 pm
This was very well written, the position was made very clear in the first paragraph and defended well throughout the article. It was easy for the reader to follow and understand and the author is clearly well versed on the subject. Specifically picking apart Trump on a tweet proved the author’s point with specific evidence that was applicable. Great job!
Christian Anderson • May 7, 2017 at 1:49 pm
Great article. I love how you called out the hypocrisy of fake news by stating that Trump could be a source of fake news. The links were very informative. I also love how you used his tweets to support your claim. Very well organized.
Abby Banks • May 7, 2017 at 1:46 pm
I really liked this article! The opinion was clear, well-evidenced and articulated, and interesting to hear! I really enjoyed the quotes used, and the way Trump’s own words were able to back up the argument.
Thomas Johnson • May 7, 2017 at 12:47 pm
This editorial was well written as the writer expressed their opinion strongly at the beginning of the article and was able to support it throughout with solid facts and quotes. Also you could tell that the writer was very informed on the topic and had researched it well.
Jared Taylor • May 5, 2017 at 10:25 am
This was a really well done story. The level of research shows in the facts that are presented, the quotes used help further the facts and the opinions are well organized and straight to the point. Great job Kleio.
McKenna • May 3, 2017 at 8:43 pm
This article was really well written and you stated your opinion very clearly. You had very strong facts and quotes and I like how the facts and quotes supported each other, as well as supporting the claim. Lastly, the infographic was really well done. It has interesting facts as well as the layout is very unique and clever.
Emmanuel Kamara • May 2, 2017 at 9:17 am
Great article about a really interesting topic that is becoming a bigger issue as the year goes by. This article is well written with a lot of researching done. Great Job Kleio
Max Korth • May 1, 2017 at 9:50 pm
This was a very well written article, it clearly stated your opinion and had very powerful quotes and facts to back up that claim, and really allowed for the facts to speak for themselves. Also I liked how you offered a solution to the problem.