President Trump took aim at ABC News on Wednesday after the channel mistakenly aired a graphic claiming that his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
In a tweet, the president dubbed ABC “fake” and questioned whether members of Robert Mueller’s team, whom he has in the past dubbed “13 angry Democrats,” had put the news organization up to the graphic.
“Look what Fake ABC News put out. I guess they had it prepared from the 13 Angry Democrats leading the Witch Hunt!” the president tweeted.
{mosads}The network apologized early Wednesday after the chyron was aired during a signing ceremony at the White House at which Trump issued a temporary halt to his administration’s policy of separating families for prosecution at the U.S.-Mexico border.
“We regret and apologize for the false lower third graphic that aired during our special report. We are investigating how incorrect information was in our system and how and why it was allowed to air,” ABC News said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.
“We apologize to our viewers and to Mr. Manafort. There simply is no excuse for this sort of mistake.”
The president’s former press secretary, Sean Spicer, questioned whether ABC would extend a similar apology to Trump himself.
Trump has frequently criticized the Mueller investigation, particularly into his former campaign chair, Manafort, accusing the Justice Department of running a “witch hunt” over allegations that his campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 election.
Manafort, who is charged with bank fraud and money laundering related to his lobbying work for pro-Russia parties in Ukraine, has not pleaded guilty to any charges and denies any wrongdoing.