|
Trump has criticized the proposed deal, which
the Justice Department has sued to stop. Legal experts have said
the president's attacks on CNN could hobble his administration's
case.
The president, who regularly assails mainstream media, has long
criticized CNN, calling the network "fake news" and saying he no
longer watches it, while lauding rival Fox News. His call for a
boycott appeared to be a step up in his attacks.
"Great, and we should boycott Fake News CNN. Dealing with them
is a total waste of time!," Trump wrote in a Twitter post.
Trump was responding to a post by his spokeswoman Sarah Sanders,
who in her own post on Tuesday night praised reports that CNN
would not attend an annual holiday party held at the White House
for news media.
It was not immediately clear if Trump in his post was calling
for a wider boycott against CNN or one by White House staff.
Representatives for the White House did not immediately respond
to a request for comment.
Representatives for CNN also did not immediately respond to a
request for comment on Trump's tweet on Wednesday. A CNN
spokesperson told Politico that it would not attend the party
"in light of the President's continued attacks on freedom of the
press and CNN" but would send a reporting crew to cover the
event, Politico reported on Tuesday.
The network and its journalists have repeatedly defended CNN's
work against previous presidential attacks.
The Department of Justice's challenge is unusual move given that
pay TV and wireless company AT&T does not directly compete with
TV show maker Time Warner. The department has said the lawsuit
is a law enforcement decision, not a political one.
(Writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Frances Kerry)
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
|
|
