Trump calls out 'sleepy eyes' Chuck Todd, slams 'fake news media'
President Trump again directed his weekly Saturday breakfast tweets at the media, this time chiding "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd for exploring potential Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
"When will Sleepy Eyes Chuck Todd and @NBCNews start talking about the Obama SURVEILLANCE SCANDAL and stop with the Fake Trump/Russia story?" he tweeted.
Minutes later, he went after the media as a whole.
"It is the same Fake News Media that said there is 'no path to victory for Trump' that is now pushing the phony Russia story. A total scam," he tweeted.
The tirade comes after a busy news week of lingering congressional investigations into whether Russia interfered in the presidential election. Democrats called on Republican Rep. Devin Nunes, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee heading up a Russia investigation, to step down from the inquiry after revelations he had a secret meeting at the White House. On Thursday, former Trump National Security Advisor Gen. Michael Flynn asked for immunity in exchange for an interview and the Senate held an open hearing on the matter.
Todd took aim at Trump on MSNBC on Friday, as reported in RealClear Politics, hinting Trump may be on the verge of a lame duck presidency. He noted the president's low approval ratings, his inability to repeal Obamacare and the Russia investigation.
"The fact is the president, if he cannot accept the fact there is Russian interference in our democracy in some form or another and he fights it every step of the way, then this story will consume him and his presidency will never get going and never get off the ground," Todd said.
Todd responded Saturday morning.
It's not the first time Trump used the "sleepy eyes" dig on Todd.
"Sleepy eyes Chuck Todd, a man with so little touch for politics, is at it again," the then-presidential hopeful tweeted in July. "He could not have watched my standing ovation speech in N.C."
Todd responded later that day as well.
NBC senior political analyst Mark Halperin has also been the target of the insult.
New York Times White House correspondent Glenn Thrush, in a nod to the band The Eagles, tweeted the slight in the spirit of the song "Lyin' Eyes."
About noon, the president did something he doesn't often do: Tweet something positive about the New York Times, although he still used the "failing" adjective.
The tweets referenced a Times story Friday about how parts of the country may be without an Obamacare option next year.
He then tweeted details of a Friday Fox News story about the "unmasking" of private citizens tied to Trump "whose communications apparently were caught up in surveillance under the Obama administration."
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