President Trump’s Twitter feed last week was filled with attacks on a number of familiar names, from Senator Chuck Schumer and Arnold Schwarzenegger to Barack Obama.
But one frequent target was missing: the media.
Trump last tweeted negatively about the media Feb. 26, when he slammed a new ad campaign from the “failing” New York Times.
Trump followed up that day with an allegation that the media “played up” his administration’s Russia ties “in order to mask the big election defeat and the illegal leaks.”
It’s the longest Trump has gone without using the social media service to blast the press since the inauguration.
It’s a noteworthy shift in tone. The president made attacks on the media a cornerstone of his campaign — one he continued after taking office.
The absence of media attacks also came the same week Trump said he has a messaging problem. During an interview on Fox News Channel last Tuesday, Trump said he would give himself a “C or C+” for messaging.
Jason Miller, the former senior communications adviser for Trump’s campaign, said Sunday that Trump’s recent Twitter behavior could be a reflection of his well-received speech to Congress.
“I think the president saw what total messaging victory looks like, and when he gets up there and gives a speech like that, there’s no reason to go and step on it,” Miller said on CNN’s “Reliable Sources.”
Trump’s negative rhetoric about the media has touched on nearly every major media outlet in the country. On Feb. 17, Trump called the Times, CNN, NBC, ABC and CBS “fake news” outlets that are the “enemy of the American People.”
Over the weekend, his tweet storm casting aspersions on Obama received widespread attention.
Trump also tweeted about the media — but not in a critical way.
He was apparently watching “Fox & Friends” again, because on Sunday morning he quoted almost verbatim from a segment on the show about Obama and Russian president Vladimir Putin.
He even gave attribution by tagging @foxandfriends in the tweet.