CNN was not having any of president Trump’s meltdown during his coronavirus press briefing on Monday and the results are absolutely scathing.
The briefing was so chaotic that #TrumpMeltdown trended worldwide soon after it finished.
During the pandemonium, Trump made a series of outlandish claims that resulted in the most damning TV news banners:
Dear CNN Breaking News Banner Writer Person, Excellent job. #TrumpMeltdown #PresserCOVID19 https://t.co/Z8f5YsmO5i— hily wood (@hily wood) 1586825804
Bravo, CNN. This is how the media needs to cover Donald Trump. #TrumpMeltdown https://t.co/xSnDWynK0d— Frederick Joseph (@Frederick Joseph) 1586827373
For context, Trump started off the briefing with a series of videos that essentially put the blame on the media for not taking the coronavirus seriously in the early stages of the pandemic.
It showed a series of clips from FOX News downplaying Covid-19:
This is so bonkers. Trump is now playing TV clips back to the media to make it seem as though they were complicit i… https://t.co/gdzN4vOJQe— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1586815769
The video then showed Donald Trump’s response to the pandemic – with clips dated from March about how he closed the US border to China and declared a national emergency.
There was just one problem. It completely missed any dates in February.
This could be because Trump said as late as 28 February that coronavirus was the Democratic Party’s “new hoax”, despite the country reporting its first case on 21 January.
CNN had all of the receipts:
@goshutyourmouth and my personal favorite https://t.co/Ved4XAzyWa— ⚡SUBCHVRGE⚡ (@⚡SUBCHVRGE⚡) 1586847252
CNN’s website slammed the briefing as “one of the most unchained presidential tantrums ever captured on television”.
During the briefing, Trump also incorrectly claimed his power as POTUS is ‘total’ when it comes to telling states whether or not to ease their lockdowns.
This goes against the Tenth Amendment in the constitution, which states "police powers" are granted to the states to regulate behaviour during public health crises.
Then the memes rolled in:
#TrumpMeltdown So this is all I got from the last press conference. https://t.co/hXbxGlXG5h— Duke Vinatra (berry-duke96) (@Duke Vinatra (berry-duke96)) 1586827249
#TrumpMeltdown Trump: “The media is asking me questions.” https://t.co/Ke5Jjlhgf5— Joanne❄️ #DontTouchYourFace #Biden2020 (@Joanne❄️ #DontTouchYourFace #Biden2020) 1586823887
Me walking in on twitter after being offline all day and seeing #PressBriefing #TrumpMeltdown and OMG Trump trendin… https://t.co/uXWqxd970r— Noa Shaw (@Noa Shaw) 1586820749
At the time of writing, the US has 587,173 confirmed coronavirus cases and sadly 23,644 people have died.