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Former President Donald Trump recently engaged in one of his favorite pastimes—ragging on the media. It didn't go particularly well for him, though, because CNN's Jake Tapper had a brutal response.
Trump sent out a statement delightedly attributing lower ratings for national news outlets to things being "boring" now he is no longer in office.
"CNN ratings are down 70%. MSDNC is also way down. Actually, they are ALL way down. They say the news is 'boring' since I left D.C."
Trump: CNN ratings are down 70%. MSDNC is also way down. Actually, they are ALL way down. They say the news is "boring" since I left D.C. Morning Joe, Joy Reid (whoever that is?), Nicole Wallace, Jake Tapper, and even Chris Wallace, at Fox, in free fall. A wonderful thing to see!pic.twitter.com/pDmTWcQoJi— Jenn Pellegrino \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@Jenn Pellegrino \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1624987730
Ratings really are down for most networks, according to Deadline, but Trump being out of office is likely not the only root cause.
CNN's Jake Tapper had some valuable advice for Trump.
"If I had incited and inspired a deadly insurrection and attempt to undo American democracy I might not be out there bragging about how many viewers it had. On any channel."
"But maybe that's just me, I'm a different breed of cat."
If I had incited and inspired a deadly insurrection and attempt to undo American democracy I might not be out there bragging about how many viewers it had. On any channel.\u00a0\n\nBut maybe that\u2019s just me, I\u2019m a different breed of cat.https://twitter.com/jennpellegrino/status/1409926847392067587\u00a0\u2026— Jake Tapper (@Jake Tapper) 1624993950
Other Twitter users reinterpreted Trump's comment as well.
"now that i've left office and things are less chaotic people are able to move on with their lives instead of constantly checking the news to see if we've nuked some random country... ratings are down"\n\ni'm not sure i can fit all that on one bumper sticker— Dad Jokes Panda (@Dad Jokes Panda) 1624994203
Imagine bragging that you had people so worried about the world on a daily basis they couldn\u2019t stop hypervigilantly watching the news— John Johnson & Johnson (@John Johnson & Johnson) 1624994119
Others assured Tapper their decreased news viewing was actually a good thing.
Yeah, I can focus on other things now.— Mark\u2019O (@Mark\u2019O) 1625013509
It is so nice to wake up in the middle of the night and not immediately think that you have to check your phone in case something else has happened? I began to dread Friday evenings because that was when they dropped the bombshells they were hoping to sneak past the public.— Petunia (@Petunia) 1624996407
And post-insurrection, I\u2019d reckon. During Trump we were doom watching as much as doom scrolling. Now that adults are in charge, I no longer feel the need to hold the threads of reality together with my unyielding attention.— VOTE \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@VOTE \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1625000962
I'm not watching the news much anymore because I'm no longer in a constant state of panic that some madman is going to nuke a hurricane or suggest that citizens inject bleach. This isn't complicated.— \ud83c\udf0a JacquesStraw \ud83c\udf0a (@\ud83c\udf0a JacquesStraw \ud83c\udf0a) 1624994631
Not living in constant terror has been a delight!— Alison Berkowitz (@Alison Berkowitz) 1625000671
Just to get one last jab in, Tapper also pointed out his ratings hadn't suffered nearly as much as Trump insisted.
Since Trump is still banned from most social media platforms, it's unlikely we'll see a response to Tapper's tweet though.