Trump knocks down 'CNN' in imagined war against media

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US President Donald Trump tweeted a 28-second video on Sunday, showing him knocking down and beating up a professional wrestling "villain" whose face had been replaced by a CNN logo.

The tweet is seen by some as a new twist in Trump's ongoing war with the media, but by others as his latest political show against an imaged enemy.

The clip is an altered version of Trump's appearance at a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) event in 2007, in which he "attacked" WWE owner Vince McMahon, a friend of his.

CNN accused the US president of encouraging violence against the media, but Homeland Security Adviser Thomas Bossert said: "No one would perceive that as a threat."

US President Donald Trump tweets a "knocking down CNN" video. /Twitter Screenshot

Escalated "war"

Trump, who declared a "running war with the media" and slammed reporters as "among the most dishonest human beings on earth" shortly after his inauguration as US president in January, has recently stepped up his attacks on the news community.

In an apparent response to media accusations that his 2016 presidential campaign was in collusion with Russia, Trump bashed outlets including CNN, NBC, The Washington Post and The New York Times last week for their "phony Russian stories," "fake news" and "garbage journalism."

On Thursday, he posted a pair of hateful tweets about MSNBC co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, mocking Brzezinski's "low I.Q." and said he had seen her bleeding after a facelift.

Amid a torrent of criticism over his attacks, Trump tweeted on Saturday: "My use of social media is not Presidential – it's MODERN DAY PRESIDENTIAL. Make America Great Again!"

After tweeting the "knocking down CNN" video, Trump sent another tweet attacking the media on Sunday: "The dishonest media will NEVER keep us from accomplishing our objectives on behalf of our GREAT AMERICAN PEOPLE!"

US President Donald Trump participates in a Celebrate Freedom Rally at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, US, July 1, 2017. /VCG Photo

CNN responded to the video with a statement: "It is a sad day when the President of the United States encourages violence against reporters."

The network suggested Trump should focus on his upcoming overseas trip as well as "his health care bill" at home, instead of being "involved in juvenile behavior far below the dignity of his office."

Later this week, Trump will travel to Poland and Germany, where he will attend a meeting of G20 leaders.

"It's not just anti-CNN. It's anti-freedom of the press," CNN political analyst Carl Bernstein said.

Other members of the media community also criticized Trump's CNN video.

"We condemn the president's threat of physical violence against journalists," the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press said. "This tweet is beneath the office of the presidency. Sadly, it is not beneath this president."

The New York Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet called it "unseemly" that Trump had attacked journalists "for doing their job."

People participate in an Impeachment March in Los Angeles, US, July 2, 2017, calling for the impeachment of US President Donald Trump. /VCG Photo

Is Trump a president or actor?

While Trump claims his use of social media is "modern day presidential," many in the media community say such rhetoric should not come from a president. It is clear Trump and many journalists hold very different views on US presidency.

Some analysts believe Trump's fondness of the American professional wrestling can explain his understanding of "modern day" presidency.

According to CNN Editor-at-large Chris Cillizza, professional wrestling is "fake" and a "scripted" TV show and "the wrestlers are as much actors as they are athletes." But not every fan knows it.

Trump has been capitalizing on the "basic divide between fake and real," Cillizza wrote on Sunday. Most people do not understand that "Trump is playing a role" as the fighter against "fake news" for political gains, he added.

Cillizza does not believe Trump really hates the media, adding that the US president may simply need an "enemy".

"He is a famed – by his own account – counter-puncher," Cillizza wrote. "He does better when there is something or someone to run against."

With Hillary Clinton defeated in the election and the Republicans controlling the Congress, Trump "has struggled to find an enemy" after becoming the president, Cillizza explained. "What he has turned to then is the media."

Trump supporters face counter protests during an Impeachment March to call for the impeachment of the US president in Los Angeles, US, July 2, 2017. /VCG Photo

Similarly, Anthony Zurcher of BBC News described Trump as a "pro-wrestling president."

"Donald Trump has shown time and time again that he views politics as performance art; another reality television competition where the more drama and conflict there is, the better," he wrote on Sunday.

Politics is like a WWE math for Trump, Zurcher continued. "The plot is contrived; the action is fake; the outcome predetermined."

Zurcher believes CNN was just the "latest number-one bad guy" chosen by Trump to entertain his supporters, most of whom will see it as the "biggest show ever to hit the US political scene" and the "newest twist in the remaking of the modern US presidency."

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