CNN media correspondent Brian Stelter commented on President Donald Trump’s apparent inability to distinguish between Fox news opinion pieces and actual journalism on Friday. Stelter's remarks followed the president's joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
During the conference Trump commented on the latest rejected claims that British spies wiretapped Trump Tower per Obama's request, telling a reporter it wasn't the Trump administration that made the claims, but Fox News. "You should be talking to Fox" about this, he said.
The theory came from Fox legal analyst Andrew Napolitano on Tuesday; however, the network clarified on Friday that it has no evidence "that the now-President of the United States was surveilled at any time."
Stelter noted that Napolitano made his comment on an opinion show, which is different than a newscast. "But this issue isn't just about Napolitano. It's about the credibility of all of Fox," he said. "The president is citing Fox, saying it was Fox's reporting."
"Bottom line," he continued, "We're stuck in a ditch again. We're stuck in this conservative media ditch where the president is relying on something that may or may not have actually been reliable and doesn't seem to know the difference between an opinion commentator saying something on an opinion show relying on sources that are apparently wrong, versus real reporting."
"It's just not a good look," he said. He went on to add that the important issue in this case is "the president's media literacy."
Watch the full clip below.
Trump's message was about "strength," but his wiretapping comment ("talk to Fox") was incredibly weak... https://t.co/srbn5IBMJo
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) March 17, 2017
