White House Says Donald Trump ‘Strongly Condemns’ Doctored Video Showing Him Shooting Journalists
On Monday, the White House said that the president condemns a violent video depicting Donald Trump killing figures representing media outlets. According to FOX News, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said that although the president hasn’t seen the video, he “strongly condemns” the violent depiction based on what he’s heard.
The video was played during a three-day conference hosted by a pro-Trump group called American Priority, which was holding an event at Trump’s Doral Miami resort. According to those who witnessed the video, it showed the president’s head superimposed on a man who opened fire with a gun into a church. The video described it as the “Church of Fake News.”
As The Inquisitr reported, people inside the church had the logos of news organizations superimposed over their bodies as they were killed.
“Re: the video played over the weekend: The @POTUS @realDonaldTrump has not yet seen the video, he will see it shortly, but based upon everything he has heard, he strongly condemns this video,” she wrote.
The White House Correspondents Association made a similar denouncement. Jonathan Karl, an ABC News journalist who heads the association, made a statement about the video.
“The WHCA is horrified by a video reportedly shown over the weekend at a political conference organized by the president’s supporters at the Trump National Doral in Miami,” he said. “All Americans should condemn this depiction of violence directed toward journalists and the president’s political opponents.”
Karl called on the president to denounce the video himself.
“We have previously told the president his rhetoric could incite violence,” Karl said. “Now we call on him and everybody associated with this conference to denounce this video and affirm that violence has no place in our society.”
While Trump didn’t appear at the conference, it was attended by Donald Trump Jr. and former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. A source close to the two claims that they weren’t present when the video was aired. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was also expected to appear at the event.
But the depiction at the pro-Trump event has had critics saying that it is an escalation of Trump’s own rhetoric against the media – a frequent target of the president’s attacks. In the past, the president has called stories that contradict or criticize him as “fake news” and has called the media “the enemy of the American people.”
It’s also not the first time that a video depicting Trump attacking the media has raised eyebrows, after a wrestling video was altered to make it look as though he was attacking and punching CNN.
#FraudNewsCNN #FNN pic.twitter.com/WYUnHjjUjg
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 2, 2017
