United States President Donald Trump on Monday accused the media of deliberately not covering terror threats posed by the Islamic State (ISIS).
Trump said that the new outlets "have their reasons" for not reporting a "genocide" under way at the hands of the group.
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Trump made the statement at his first visit to the headquarters for the US Central Command, however, he did not provide any evidence to support his claims of under-reporting.
The White House did, however, release a list later stating at least 78 attacks — which it described as "executed or inspired" by ISIS — had taken place between September 2–14.
The White House stated that most of the terror attacks on the list did not get appropriate media coverage, however, it did not provide any details on how it defined "under reporting". Some incidents on the White House list received widespread media attention and 24x7 reporting.
"You've seen what happened in Paris and Nice. All over Europe it's happening. It's gotten to a point where it's not even being reported. And in many cases, the very, very dishonest press doesn't want to report it. They have their reasons and you understand that," Trump told a group of military leaders and troops during the visit to the Central Command.
Trump has always been critical of media's coverage, particularly of him and has often alleged that the media distorts facts and portrays him in a negative light.
The President, during his address, did not mention why he thinks media has not paid enough attention to said terrorist attacks.
The White House press secretary Sean Spicer, later had to tone down Trump's harsh remarks by saying that Trump was questioning the balance of reporting in media, "like a protest gets blown out of the water, and yet an attack or a foiled attack doesn't necessarily get the same coverage".
The list released by the White House on Monday includes incidents like the Nice truck massacre in France that killed dozens and received widespread attention. It also included certain high-profile incidents where there were no casualties, the Associated Press reported.
