Trump lashes out at NYT, WaPost amid criticism of coronavirus response

President Trump railed against The New York Times and The Washington Post amid criticism from each of the publications regarding his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, calling the two publications “Fake News sources of information” and “bad for America.”

Advertising in the Failing New York Times is WAY down. Washington Post is not much better. I can’t say whether this is because they are Fake News sources of information, to a level that few can understand, or the Virus is just plain beating them up. Fake News is bad for America!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 6, 2020

“Advertising in the Failing New York Times is WAY down. Washington Post is not much better,” Trump tweeted to his more than 76 million followers. “I can’t say whether this is because they are Fake News sources of information, to a level that few can understand, or the Virus is just plain beating them up. Fake News is bad for America!”

It is not clear what prompted the president’s tweet, but two opinion pieces published Monday in the Times and Post, respectively, are particularly scathing.

“Has Anyone Found Trump’s Soul? Anyone?” reads the headline for an opinion piece by the Times’s Frank Bruni.

“He’s not rising to the challenge of the coronavirus pandemic. He’s shriveling into nothingness,” the subheadline adds.

“The worst president. Ever,” reads the headline from columnist Max Boot in The Washington Post.

The White House canceled subscriptions to both newspapers in October.

“We have no plans to renew them,” White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham told The Hill on Oct. 22.

“We don’t even want it in the White House anymore,” Trump later told Fox News host Sean Hannity regarding the Times. “We’re going to probably terminate that and The Washington Post. They’re fake.”

Trump’s approval on his handling of the coronavirus crisis stands at 49.8 percent, according to the RealClearPolitics index of major polls, with disapproval at 47.7 percent.