President Trump’s former campaign officials reportedly showed him positive news coverage in an attempt to control his Twitter habits.
Politico reported that the president’s former campaign staffers made sure that Trump’s media consumption included praise in an effort to tamp down on his inflammatory tweets.
“He saw there was activity so he didn’t feel like he had to respond,” a former campaign official told Politico. “He sends out these tweets when he feels like people aren’t responding enough for him.”
Former Trump adviser Sam Nunberg told the publication, “If candidate Trump was upset about unfair coverage, it was productive to show him that he was getting fair coverage from outlets that were persuadable.”
“The same media that our base digests and prefers is going to be the base for his support. I would assume the President would like see positive and preferential treatment from those outlets and that would help the operation overall.”
{mosads}Trump often used Twitter during his presidential campaign to make announcements or go after his rivals. Since assuming office, the president has continued to use the medium, often going after the media for their coverage of his administration.
According to Politico, former Trump aides said when news coverage during the campaign wasn’t positive, they looked to certain outlets to plant positive stories.
A former campaign staffer referenced Trump’s feud with Khizr Khan, the father of a slain Muslim U.S. soldier. The official said that amid backlash, the Trump team set up a meeting with Gold Star Mothers of Florida and ensured conservative outlets covered the story.
“We made sure that conservative media was aware of it, they connected the echo chamber,” the former official said.
Former campaign officials used outlets such as Breitbart News, the Washington Examiner, Fox News, Infowars and The Daily Caller in an effort to show Trump positive news coverage.
Since assuming office, Trump has continued his feud with the media, dismissing unflattering coverage of his administration as “fake news” and accusing reporters of biased and dishonest coverage.
In a tweet last week, the president called the “FAKE NEWS media” the “enemy of the American people.”