Trump announces fake news winners on Twitter, but link stops working soon after
President Trump announced the winners of the "FAKE NEWS" awards on Wednesday, after much anticipation -- especially from the news media. But the Republican National Committee (RNC) page the president linked to at roughly 8 p.m. on Wednesday came up with an error message shortly afterward.
"The site is temporarily offline, we are working to bring it back up. Please try again later," it read.
CBS News' Christopher Brito managed to capture screenshots of the awards before the site went down, revealing 10 specific "awards" and one generic "award." The final "award" went for reporting "RUSSIA COLLUSION!" The website did not appear to cite a specific news source, more generally deriding coverage and any suggestions of collusion.
It's unclear if there will be any tangible awards, such as trophies.
One award went to ABC's Brian Ross, who erroneously reported a crucial detail after the guilty plea of Michael Flynn. Ross suggested Flynn was directed to contact Russian officials when Mr. Trump was a candidate, instead of president-elect.
"ABC News' Brian Ross CHOKES and sends markets in a downward spiral with false report," the website said.
Another such "award" went to the New York Times, after it "FALSELY claimed on the front page that the Trump administration had hidden a climate report," the website said.
Another "award" went to Washington Post reporter Dave Weigel, who tweeted a picture of a Florida rally the president had said was packed, as sparsely attended. Weigel quickly apologized after he said he realized he had miscalculated the time of when he captured that image, and no story was ever printed on the attendance. Mr. Trump had tweeted for Weigel to be fired for the incorrect tweet.
All in all, here is the awards tally for each outlet:
- CNN: 4
- The New York Times: 2
- ABC: 1
- The Washington Post: 1
- TIME: 1
- Newsweek: 1
A few minutes after the "fake news awards" were posted, Mr. Trump tweeted there are lots of reporters he respects out there.
