On Sunday, Donald Trump went absolutely nuclear over reporting from NBC News and MSNBC.
He threatened to investigate the networks for "Country Threatening Treason" if he wins the election.
The reaction to Trump's rant was, to put it mildly, not good.
For the life of me, I was unable to find any headline or story that made the claim that Trump made on his Truth Social account.
The only reporting that I could find that possibly set him off was a fact-check from Trump's recent interview on "Meet the Press."
NBC News ran the fact-checking story, with the sub-header that stated, "In at least 11 points during the interview, former President Donald Trump flubbed numbers, misstated facts or omitted critical context."
The fact-check itself was a bit off, so let me clear this up real quick.
Trump's statement on terrorists crossing the border was both right and wrong, and here's why.
Border Patrol and Field Operations both report numbers. Trump was referring to US Border Patrol numbers in 2019, which were, in fact, zero at the southern border. However, the Office of Field Operations reported 280 encounters, which is the number the fact-checker used. They were being deceptive, and Trump could have done a better job noting the exact stat to which he referred.
They also dinged Trump on overall immigration numbers, but Trump was talking collectively, at least that was my perception of it, while the fact-checkers were talking about a single year, so I think that point is mute. We are seeing record numbers, and nobody can deny that.
The rest of the article is, for the most part, accurate, but the one area they did not cover was Trump talking about polling, which I fact-checked as inaccurate.
I have often stated that Trump cannot let anything go, and this is yet another case of that.
Trump reacted to the on Truth Social, going on a long-winded rant, posting:
"They are almost all dishonest and corrupt, but Comcast, with its one-side and vicious coverage by NBC NEWS, and in particular MSNBC, often and correctly referred to as MSDNC (Democrat National Committee!), should be investigated for its 'Country Threatening Treason.' Their endless coverage of the now fully debunked SCAM known as Russia, Russia, Russia, and much else, is one big Campaign Contribution to the Radical Left Democrat Party. I say up front, openly, and proudly, that when I WIN the Presidency of the United States, they and others of the LameStream Media will be thoroughly scrutinized for their knowingly dishonest and corrupt coverage of people, things, and events. Why should NBC, or any other of the corrupt & dishonest media companies, be entitled to use the very valuable Airwaves of the USA, FREE? They are a true threat to Democracy and are, in fact, THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE! The Fake News Media should pay a big price for what they have done to our once great Country!"
So, Trump's diehard supporters love this type of stuff, but everyone else looks at it like he is losing his mind, especially when he fails to point to a specific story that set him off.
Most outlets published stories that more or less called him a lunatic or focused on the criticism levied at Trump over the post, including headlines calling him a "fascist."
This is exactly the kind of thing that Trump needs to avoid if he wants to win a general election in 2024.
Trump also needs to better arm himself with facts and stop making up numbers or misquoting numbers.
The real numbers are more than enough to crush Biden, so put them on a card and refer to them during the interview if you have to, but get them right so fact-checkers cannot pour over the numbers and claim he got them wrong.
This is an easy fix for Trump.
I don't know if this is on his team, meaning they are not prepping him properly, or Trump is just being stubborn and does not want to have to refer to notes during an interview, but he needs to get these facts correct.
He has to realize, that every little thing he says is gone over with a fine-toothed comb to discredit him, so don't give them the free ammo.
