Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump told thrilled supporters gathered at a New Hampshire rally that the traveling press was late to his rally and he refused to hold off on speaking until they arrived.
“I have really good news for you. I just heard the press is stuck on their airplane. They can’t get here,” Trump said as the crowd erupted in cheers. “I love it. So they’re trying to get here now. They’re going to be about 30 minutes late. They called us and said could you wait? I said absolutely not. Let’s get going, New Hampshire.”
WATCH:
After taping an interview on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” Thursday afternoon, Trump flew out of New York, while pool reporters were left behind in Manhattan traffic, leaving on their press plane from New Jersey.
Upset, some of the traveling press tried to “boycott” the rally by refusing to cover it, but network management told them that wasn’t an option. Some took to Twitter to rail against the GOP nominee for leaving them behind.
Traveling press corps just landed in New Hampshire for Trump's event because we left from a different airport. /1
— Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) September 16, 2016
And now apparently he's on stage mocking the fact that he started without the press arriving. 2/2 https://t.co/kABvyvUack
— Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) September 16, 2016
He called it "really good news" https://t.co/swZ6k2HRz2
— Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) September 16, 2016
To sum it up: Trump started rally without reporters who follow him around the country. Then mocked us all. https://t.co/tqm7E3ENMX
— Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) September 16, 2016
Trump takes the stage, while travelling press is still en route, says he was asked to wait for press arrival. "I said absolutely not."
— Nick Corasaniti (@NYTnickc) September 16, 2016
To be clear: Traveling press is arranged and organized by the Trump campaign. https://t.co/oOC6vuz52v
— Nick Corasaniti (@NYTnickc) September 16, 2016
The traveling Trump press saw 3 minutes and 28 seconds of his rally in Laconia.
— Nick Corasaniti (@NYTnickc) September 16, 2016
This week, Conway said Clinton treats the press like second class citizens. Please note that Trump is speaking right now and we are on a bus
— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) September 16, 2016
Ironically, access to Trump post-blacklist is at times worse than it was on the blacklist.
— Eli Stokols (@EliStokols) September 16, 2016
Last night, a new low in the tortured relations between Trump and the reporters who follow him around. My story: https://t.co/eWcRXALUTO
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) September 16, 2016
Reporter aboard the press plane says this is "yet another example of Trump's total mistreatment of the press" https://t.co/hpOdPKtJZR
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) September 16, 2016
Members of the leftist press also vented their feelings to Politico, complaining about their “awful” demonization at the hands of Trump and voters:
“This is completely ridiculous and unacceptable. This has gone on for way to [sic] long and it’s time we take a stand,” said one member of the traveling press.
“The press corps is at a boiling point here and was more frustrated tonight than ever,” said another.
“There’s the want to do something among traveling press of course — being constantly mocked and demonized is awful — but there’s the competing feeling that news organizations have almost let too much slide to have any bargaining power at this point,” said a third member of Trump’s traveling press corps.
Media organizations “pay extra to travel on the campaign-arranged press planes and buses, with the distinct purpose of making sure they arrive on time and with the candidate to events,” Politico notes.
Needling the press is a crowd favorite at Trump rallies. The establishment press have endlessly attacked Trump and his supporters as racist, sexist, Islamaphobic, a demagogue, Hitler, subconsciously Hitler, not Hitler but Mussolini, with once-respectable conservative sites helpfully adding his working class white supporters “deserve to die,” and “deserve to be beaten.” They celebrate the countless death threats made at Trump, give generous airtime to those who make attempts on his life, calling one would-be murder in one instance “a good guy with a gun.” Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton piled on, calling one half of Trump supporters “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic, you name it,” who belong in what she calls “the basket of deplorables.” Such Americans are “irredeemable” and “not America,” she added. The press immediately doubled down on Clinton’s smear.
Many Americans’ trust in the media stands at an all-time low. Gallup reports trust levels have hit their lowest since the polling company began tracking Americans’ attitudes towards the press since 1997, with only 32 percent saying they have a “great deal” or “fair” amount of trust in the media.
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