CNN’s Brian Stelter: ‘President Trump Is Poisoning the American People’ (Video)

“I think Trump’s pretty weak right now and we’re going to get through this,” says media guru on surviving President Trump’s anti-media assaults

CNN media guru Brian Stelter said how he really feels about President Trump, telling an audience at the Aspen Ideas Festival this week the the construction magnate and TV celebrity is “poisoning the American people” with anti-media venom.

“President Trump is poisoning the American people, a subset of the American people that have been infected by the poison. It is getting worse every day and we’re going to reckon with the consequences for decades,” said Stelter, who added that he is still confident citizens will “get through this” because Trump is “weak right now.”

“Some days, I’m very optimistic,” he said. “I wake up glass half full a lot of days, and I think Trump’s pretty weak right now and we’re going to get through this.”

Stelter appeared at the festival with other news heavy-hitters, including MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell, USA Today reporter Susan Page, Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart and NPR media whisperer David Folkenflik.

Stelter’s poison comments came after a question from Folkenflik about why the current era is “a moment we should be so concerned about.”

Donald Trump has long had a strained relationship with the media, with a particular distaste for CNN, which goes back long before he took office. The billionaire often derides the channel and its reporters as “fake news.”

The enmity goes beyond words.

Earlier this year, his Justice Department attempted to block a purchase of CNN by AT&T. The ensuing litigation dragged on, but ultimately failed to halt the sale. Antitrust concerns, cited by Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim, have not been raised by the administration in regard to the impending sale of 21st Century Fox to Disney.

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