‘Fake News' Gains Ground: Half of US Voters Believe Media Lies About Trump
According to a Morning Consult/Politico poll released Wednesday, about half of US voters think that mainstream news outlets push out false content, or crowd favorite "fake news," when publishing articles on US President Donald Trump.
Conducted from October 12 to 16, the survey indicated that a whopping 46 percent of registered voters "believe the nation's major news organizations fabricate news stories" about Trump and his administration, while 37 percent disagreed. The remaining 17 percent either weren't sure or had no opinion on the matter.
Though it is safe to say that 45 didn't create the "fake news" label, he has popularized the concept in his own way.
Recently, the commander-in-chief wielded the term against NBC News and deemed it a "fake news" outlet, equating it to the likes of CNN, another mainstream outlet and Trump punching bag.
"With all the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!" the Oval Office resident fired off in a Twitter rant last Wednesday.
In a tweet earlier the same day, Trump was even more direct — this time actually tagging the outlet and including a "NBC=CNN" as an added primary school-style insult.
Fake @NBCNews made up a story that I wanted a "tenfold" increase in our U.S. nuclear arsenal. Pure fiction, made up to demean. NBC = CNN!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2017
However, despite Trump's query about whether outlets that fall from his favor should have their licenses revoked, the poll suggested not everyone agreed with "the leader of the free world."
Fifty-one percent of poll participants said the federal government "should not have [the] power" to revoke licenses — 28 percent did, though.
The online poll, surveying a total of 1,991 registered voters, has a 2 percent margin of error.
- Source : Sputnik
