FAKE NEWS: Donald Trump lashed out at political reporters Friday in Davos, Switzerland as he fielded questions from World economic Forum executive chairman Klaus Schwab, and the foreign press responded with a smattering of boos
Donald Trump attacked political reporters during the World Economic Forum on Friday, and his audience gasped in surprise.
Some journalists in the back of the room let out unmistakable 'boos,' sources said, while billionaires who came to hear Trump preach his prosperity gospel gasped in astonishment.
Others laughed and applauded. A few directed their booing to the media, according to an eyewitness in the room.
The U.S. president has blasted the press since early in his campaign, complaining about 'fake news' reports that depressed his poll numbers and continue to dog his White House tenure.
But Friday marked his first major swipe at them on foreign soil, and some reporters who hadn't heard it before fired back from the peanut gallery.
The president joked that some of the TV cameras in the back would stop filming him after he attacked them; some in the crowd directed their audible booing toward the reporters
White House Communications Director Hope Hicks, center and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, second from left, listened to Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland
Trump's address came on the closing day of the World Economic Forum, a confab of heads of state, influential executives, bankers and policy makers
'I've always seemed to get for whatever reason, a disproportionate amount of press or media, and – throughout my whole life – somebody will explain some day why, but I've always gotten a lot,' Trump said, drawing chuckles from savvy business leaders who have watched his bombastic personality fuel his financial rise for decades.
'And as a businessman I was always treated really well by the press. You know, the numbers speak and things happen, but I've always really had a really good press,' trump said.
And it wasn't until I became a politician that I realized how nasty, how mean, how vicious, and how fake the press can be,' he continued, quipping that he could see 'cameras start going off in the back' of the hall.
That's when a quick burst of booing and audible gasps peppered the Davos venue.
None of the major networks broke away from live coverage. The WEF's official video feed, however, which was airing with a slight delay, cut out the booing and resumed afterward.
Some journalists in the back of the room let out unmistakable 'boos,' sources said, while billionaires who came to hear Trump preach his prosperity gospel gasped in astonishment.
Others laughed and applauded. A few directed their booing to the media, according to an eyewitness in the room.
The U.S. president has blasted the press since early in his campaign, complaining about 'fake news' reports that depressed his poll numbers and continue to dog his White House tenure.
But Friday marked his first major swipe at them on foreign soil, and some reporters who hadn't heard it before fired back from the peanut gallery.
The president joked that some of the TV cameras in the back would stop filming him after he attacked them; some in the crowd directed their audible booing toward the reporters
White House Communications Director Hope Hicks, center and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, second from left, listened to Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland
Trump's address came on the closing day of the World Economic Forum, a confab of heads of state, influential executives, bankers and policy makers
'I've always seemed to get for whatever reason, a disproportionate amount of press or media, and – throughout my whole life – somebody will explain some day why, but I've always gotten a lot,' Trump said, drawing chuckles from savvy business leaders who have watched his bombastic personality fuel his financial rise for decades.
'And as a businessman I was always treated really well by the press. You know, the numbers speak and things happen, but I've always really had a really good press,' trump said.
And it wasn't until I became a politician that I realized how nasty, how mean, how vicious, and how fake the press can be,' he continued, quipping that he could see 'cameras start going off in the back' of the hall.
That's when a quick burst of booing and audible gasps peppered the Davos venue.
None of the major networks broke away from live coverage. The WEF's official video feed, however, which was airing with a slight delay, cut out the booing and resumed afterward.
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