CNN Tells Trump to Stop ‘Tweeting Fake Videos That Exploit Innocent Children’ after ‘Racist Baby’ Video
CNN has responded strongly to the latest attack on the network from President Donald Trump. Overnight, Trump tweeted a manipulated video of two children -one running away from the other – made to look like a CNN report with the headline ‘Terrified todler [sic] runs from racist baby.’
Though the video was clearly meant as a parody and an attack on CNN, there was also the strong implication that the video was accusing CNN of false reporting about race. This comes amid heightened racial tensions following the death of African American man George Floyd.
The official CNN Communications Twitter account responded to Trump, essentially accusing him of exploiting children for partisan gain.
CNN did cover this story – exactly as it happened. Just as we reported your positions on race (and poll numbers). We’ll continue working with facts rather than tweeting fake videos that exploit innocent children. We invite you to do the same. Be better. https://t.co/T1nBtejZta
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) June 19, 2020
“CNN did cover this story – exactly as it happened,” they wrote. “Just as we reported your positions on race (and poll numbers). We’ll continue working with facts rather than tweeting fake videos that exploit innocent children. We invite you to do the same. Be better.”
‘Be better’ also seems to be a nod to First Lady Melania Trump’s ‘Be Best’ campaign, which involves tackling online bullying. Twitter has already labeled the video ‘Manipulated media‘ as part of its own effort to fact check the President’s tweets.
“This tweet has been labeled per our synthetic and manipulated media policy to give people more context,” a Twitter spokesperson told The Washington Post.
The video was made by pro-Trump meme creator Carpe Donktum, who was suspended from Twitter in October because of a video showing Trump violently murdering various media outlets.
