US President Donald Trump attacked the media once again on Saturday (Feb 18) in Florida by calling them "corrupt" during a rally that was attended by 9,000 people. He had also attacked the media on Thursday (Feb 16) at his first solo press meet at the White House.
At the event "campaign rally for America", he said he was among his friends and among the people. He told the crowd cheering for him in a state that he won that the media did not want "to report the truth" and had their own agenda.
He began the campaign-style rally saying that the media had become "part of the problem" and "part of the corrupt system".
"Many of our greatest presidents fought with the media and called them out on their lies," he said. "When the media lies to the people, I will never let them get away with it."
Trump, who has had a tumultuous presidency so far because of his multiple executive orders, defended the achievements of his presidency.
According to the BBC, he was cordial to the press inside the Air Force One but attacked the media during the rally. BBC journalist Tara McKelvey also said the animosity against the press felt personal when a man tried to block a colleague from taking pictures. This can be seen as Trump's narrative of the media as the enemy being accepted by the masses as the truth despite the fact that the president's team has manufactured lies and been caught for it before.
Reiterating his statement that he inherited a mess, Trump said, "The White House is running so smoothly." He added: "So smoothly. Believe me, I and we inherited one big mess."
During the event, he promised the people clean coal, that miners will again has work and said the medicaid plan colloquially known as Obamacare will be replaced in a few weeks time.
