President Donald Trump early Sunday posted a parody video of himself on Twitter, showing himself near a wrestling ring beating up a person with a CNN logo pasted over his head.
Trump didn't comment on the video or indicate where it had come from, but labeled it with two hashtags: #FraudNewsCNN and #FNNEMBED FAKE VIDEO:
The president had previewed the FNN name for CNN during a separate tweet on Saturday:
The video appears to have been created from his appearance at the WWE's Wrestlemania 23, in 2007, when as a guest star, he tackled owner Vince McMahon outside the ring, before going on later to shave the wrestling magnate's head.
Responding to the video later Sunday, CNN suggested that the president had threatened the press.
Ironically, years later, after Trump became president, he named McMahon's wife, Linda, as administrator of the Small Business Administration.
The post is the president's latest salvo against CNN, which he often derides as presenting fake news. A network report linking Anthony Scaramucci with Russian interests, which turned out to be false and lead to the dismissals of three journalists, added ammunition for the president and his allies against CNN.
Trump's Homeland Security adviser Tom Bossert, while appearing on ABC's "This Week" program Sunday morning, said his first reaction to the video would be the same as to any of his tweets, and that's that "cable news shows that reach directly into hundreds of thousands of viewers and not always fair to the president."
Bossert said he's also proud of Trump for developing a social media platform that allows him to speak directly to the American people.
"He's the most genuine president and the most non-politician president that we've seen in my lifetime and he's demonstrated whatever the content of that particular tweet is or any tweet, he's demonstrating an ability to communicate to the people," said Bossert.
He also said he does not believe anyone should see the video as a threat, but if they do, "he's beaten up in a way on cable platforms, and he has a right to respond."
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