WWE Video is Source of Donald Trump's Juvenile CNN Bodyslamming Video

Posted on July 2, 2017

Donald Trump shared a video on his Twitter account, @realdonaldtrump, where he can be seen tackling a person. A CNN logo is placed over the person's face. Trump then repeatedly punches the person after tackling him to the ground. The intent of the video is clearly to show Donald Trump taking down CNN.

The video is being criticized as juvenile, violent and unpresidential. Trump has been unrelenting lately in his attacks on CNN. He has also been calling them the "Fraud News Network." He also refers to CNN and other mainstream media outlets as "fake news" and "fake media." The attacks are on a scale never before seen from a U.S. President or White House.

CNN issued the following statement: "It is a sad day when the President of the United States encourages violence against reporters. Clearly, Sarah Huckabee Sanders lied when she said the President had never done so. Instead of preparing for his overseas trip, his first meeting with Vladimir Putin, ‎dealing with North Korea and working on his health care bill, he is involved in juvenile behavior far below the dignity of his office. We will keep doing our jobs. He should start doing his."

Trump also attacked the media in a recent speech. He said, "The fake media is trying to silence us - but we will not let them! We won & they lost! The dishonest media will NEVER keep us from accomplishing our objectives on behalf of our great American people!"

The sustained attacks on the media may galvanize some of Trump's base but to most Americans the attacks seem unhinged. The source of Trump's video is an appearance he made on WWE in 2007. Trump took down Vince McMahon as part of the staged feud. McMahon's face was replaced with the CNN logo in the mock-up Trump shared. Here is the original video: