As has regularly been the case at his Make America Great Again rallies, President Trump used the Phoenix stage to attack his opposition on Tuesday night, August 22. The President was back at casting blame on Obama and even took shots at critics from his own party. But it was in taking aim at the so-called "fake news media" that Trump clearly gained his footing, amongst the most loyal supporters of his conservative base.
It has been a rough couple of weeks for the administration, with many supporters have turned on the President and some jumping ship altogether. Leading up to Tuesday's rally it had practically been universally acknowledged that he made a blunder by imparting blame for the violence and subsequent massacre in Charlottesville on both the white supremacists and the anti-racist counter-protesters who met them on the city's streets. But in true Trump fashion, he continued on with his refusal to concede to such a narrative and fired back before his fervent followers.
"They make up stories, they have no sources in many cases. They say 'a source says' and there is no such thing. But they don't report the facts. Just like they don't want to report that I spoke out forcefully against hatred, bigotry, and violence, and strongly condemned the neo-Nazis, the white supremacists, and the KKK," said Trump. He'd then take out a copy of the remarks he made while initially addressing the tragedy, and then turn to his audience for validation. "Ok, I think you can't do much better, right? But they didn't wanna put this on. They had it on initially, but then when they talked: 'He didn't say it fast enough. He didn't do it on time. Why did it take a day? He must be a racist. It took a day," he decried.
