In the Latest Episode of Trump on Media: Chris Cuomo Is a ‘Chained Lunatic,’ Don Lemon ‘Perhaps the Dumbest Person in Broadcasting’

By Chris Ariens 

Pres. Trump invited TIME reporter Zeke Miller along with editor Nancy Gibbs and D.C. bureau chief Michael Scherer to the White House for and on the record dinner Monday night. Inevitably, the TV news coverage of him came up. The high (low) lights:

  • For instance I don’t watch CNN. I don’t watch MSNBC. Scarborough used to treat me great. But because I don’t do interviews and stuff and want to … He went the other way. Which is fine. He’s got some problems. But I don’t watch the show anymore. It drives him crazy. I don’t watch the show.
  • I do watch Fox in the morning, and their ratings have gone through the roof because everyone knows I’m watching Fox. But they’re pleasant. And if I do something wrong they report on it. I don’t mean they – if I do something wrong. But it’s really, honestly it’s the most accurate.
  • CNN in the morning, Chris Cuomo, he’s sitting there like a chained lunatic. He’s like a boiler ready to explode, the level of hatred. And the entire, you know the entire CNN platform is that way. This Don Lemon who’s perhaps the dumbest person in broadcasting, Don Lemon at night it’s like – sometimes they’ll have a guest who by mistake will say something good. And they’ll start screaming, we’re going to commercial. They cut him off. Remember? I’ve seen things where by mistake somebody they bring in a guest and it turns out to be a positive. And they go, I mean they get just killed. The level of hatred. And poor Jeffrey Lord. I love Jeffrey Lord. But sometimes he’s sitting there with eight unknown killers that nobody ever heard of.
  • CNN actually is not doing nearly as well as others. They’re all doing well because of me. But it’s not doing as well as others that are doing better actually. But Fox treats me very fairly. MSNBC is ridiculous. It’s just bad.

TIME reached out to CNN and MSNBC. MSNBC had no comment. A CNN spokesperson said, “His comments are beneath the dignity of the office of the President.”

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