WASHINGTON — President Trump on Friday deflected concerns that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election in his favor and said the “Fake News Media” wielded the greatest influence with its support of the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton.
The greatest influence over our election was the Fake News Media "screaming" for Crooked Hillary Clinton. Next, she was a bad candidate!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 22, 2017
In another early morning Twitter post, Mr. Trump referred to the multiple investigations into Russia’s meddling as a “hoax” and returned to accusing the media of biased coverage during the campaign in support of “Crooked Hillary,” Mr. Trump’s nickname for Mrs. Clinton.
The Russia hoax continues, now it’s ads on Facebook. What about the totally biased and dishonest Media coverage in favor of Crooked Hillary?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 22, 2017
The president’s downplaying of Russian involvement in the 2016 election comes as Facebook provides congressional investigators with more than 3,000 advertisements Russia purchased during the campaign and reports that the special counsel’s investigation was focusing in part on the president himself.
Mr. Trump’s allegation that the news media gave unfair coverage during the campaign echoes accusations Mrs. Clinton made in her recent book, “What Happened.” While Mr. Trump said the news media favored Mrs. Clinton, the former Democratic nominee said the news media did not focus enough on links between Mr. Trump and Russia.