President Donald Trump said Friday in a speech at the Department of Justice that US media outlets which cover him critically are 鈥榠llegal鈥� and 鈥榗orrupt.鈥�
Trump said CNN, MSNBC and unidentified newspapers 鈥榣iterally write 97.6 per cent bad about me鈥� and 鈥榠t has to stop. It has to be illegal.鈥�
Speaking to prosecutors and law enforcement officers at the Department of Justice headquarters, Trump described the media outlets as 鈥榩olitical arms of the Democrat party. And in my opinion they're really corrupt and they're illegal. What they do is illegal.鈥�
He said the media is 鈥榠nfluencing judges and it's really changing law, and it just cannot be legal. I don't believe it's legal. And they do it in total coordination with each other.鈥�
Trump has made attacks on the US media a central part of his message ever since his first election to the presidency in 2016.
Unprecedented for a leader in a country where freedom of the press is enshrined in the Constitution, Trump routinely calls journalists he does not approve of 鈥榚nemies of the people鈥� and 鈥榝ake news.鈥�
Since starting his second term in January, Trump has moved quickly to pressure mainstream media like The Associated Press while boosting access to the White House for formerly fringe right-wing outlets.
听