WATCH: Katrina Pierson says liberal journalists 'literally beat Trump supporters'

Donald Trump campaign spokeswoman Katrina Pierson said in a Fox News interview Monday that the liberal media "literally beat" Trump supporters, showing that she either does not know the meaning of the word "literally" or that the campaign is ratcheting up its anti-press rhetoric another notch.

Voters, Pierson said, "are tired of seeing left-wing reporters literally beat Trump supporters into submission for supporting policies they don't agree with. It just shuts them down and that's not what they're seeing in this campaign."

On Saturday night at a rally in Fairfield, CT, Republican presidential nominee Trump went on a no-holds-barred rant against "the media" for its failure to portray him in an adequately flattering light. He threatened to pull the New York Times' press credentials and called journalists "disgusting."

Journalists at Trump rallies say that they feel increasingly threatened at the events. More and more, as the candidate demonizes reporters and journalists, rally goers stop by the "press pen" -- a barricaded square in the middle of the room -- to jeer at them, give them the finger or to make threats.

Independent Journal's Congressional reporter Joe Perticone posted this segment from the Pierson interview on Twitter Monday morning:

Trump campaign spokeswoman Katrina Pierson says reporters "literally beat Trump supporters" pic.twitter.com/tV8vtIBcgV

— Joe Perticone (@JoePerticone) August 15, 2016

Pierson's willingness to tie herself in logical knots defending Trump has made her a favorite target among liberal bloggers and others looking for some comic relief during this grim campaign season.