More details have emerged about the already-infamous meeting between President-elect Donald Trump and the heads of CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX.
In its reporting of the Trump Tower event on Monday, the New York Post, citing an unnamed source, said Trump harshly criticized them. The source said the meeting was akin to “a [expletive] firing squad.”
“Trump started with [CNN chief] Jeff Zucker and said, ‘I hate your network, everyone at CNN is a liar and you should be ashamed,’” the person added. “The meeting took place in a big boardroom and there were about 30 or 40 people, including the big news anchors from all the networks,” another source added.
On Tuesday, the New Yorker’s David Remnick said he spoke with an executive, who remains unnamed, who said that Trump’s comments were “totally inappropriate” and “[expletive] outrageous.”
“I have to tell you, I am emotionally [expletive] pissed,” another person told Remnick. “How can this not influence coverage? I am being totally honest with you. Toward the end of the campaign, it got to a point where I thought that the coverage was all about [Trump’s] flaws and problems. And that’s legit. But, I thought, O.K., let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. After the meeting today, though—and I am being human with you here—I think, [expletive] him! I know I am being emotional about it. And I know I will get over it in a couple of days after Thanksgiving. But I really am offended. This was unprecedented. Outrageous!”
Participants told the New Yorker about Trump’s demeanor, saying he didn’t raise his voice.
Anchors Gayle King, David Muir, Lester Holt, Chuck Todd, Wolf Blitzer, and Martha Raddatz, as well as executives from the top broadcasters, attended the meeting.
Trump met with editors and executives from the New York Times on Tuesday, answering a wide range of questions.
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