Lara Trump 鈥擜P
WASHINGTON 鈥� Hardly a week goes by without US President Donald Trump venting his frustration at the media鈥檚 coverage of his White House.
鈥淭he Fake 黑料社 refuses to report the success of the first 6 months,鈥� Trump tweeted on Sunday in one of his latest broadsides.
To fight against what it considers 鈥淔ake 黑料社鈥� generated by the mainstream media, Team Trump is now producing what it is billing as the 鈥淩eal 黑料社.鈥�
The first 鈥淩eal 黑料社鈥� video appeared a little over a week ago on Trump鈥檚 Facebook page and featured the president鈥檚 daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, who is married to his son Eric.
Shot against a blue backdrop advertising DonaldJTrump.com and the 2016 Trump-Pence ticket, the video, filmed at Trump Tower in New York, mimics the format of a television newscast.
鈥楲ara Trump here鈥�
鈥淗ey everybody, Lara Trump here,鈥� she begins breezily. 鈥淚 bet you haven鈥檛 heard about all the accomplishments the president had this week because there鈥檚 so much fake news out there.鈥�
Lara Trump goes on to note that her billionaire father-in-law has donated his presidential salary to the National Park Service and the Department of Education.
鈥淭his is a president who is putting America before himself,鈥� she says, before praising his economic achievements.
鈥淭he economy is booming ladies and gentlemen,鈥� the 34-year-old notes in the broadcast, reportedly paid for by Trump鈥檚 presidential campaign committee.
She signs off the two-minute video, which has drawn over 2.3 million views on Facebook, by saying: 鈥淭hanks for joining us everybody. I鈥檓 Lara Trump and that is the real news.鈥�
Second video report
The video was followed by another over the weekend from Kayleigh McEnany, a conservative television pundit and Trump supporter.
McEnany, 29, who was named spokesperson for the Republican Party on Monday, lauds the number of jobs created since Trump took office in January and the record stock market highs.
鈥淧resident Trump has clearly steered the economy back in the right direction,鈥� McEnany says.
鈥楽tate-sponsored propaganda鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 Kayleigh McEnany and that is the real news,鈥� she says in her signoff for the 90-second video which has drawn over 1.5 million views.
The promotional video broadcasts, dubbed 鈥淭rump TV鈥� by some critics, have become the target of mockery from late night comedy shows.
鈥淣ow that looks like state-sponsored propaganda,鈥� Late Show host Stephen Colbert said after the appearance of the first broadcast featuring Lara Trump.
And it was not only comedians making the comparison.
鈥淲ow. Feels eerily like so many state-owned channels I鈥檝e watched in other countries,鈥� Michael McFaul, a former US ambassador to Russia who served on the National Security Council under President Barack Obama, said on Twitter.
While detractors attacked the 鈥淩eal 黑料社鈥� broadcasts, others noted that Obama and others before him used the White House media machinery to promote their accomplishments.
鈥淭hese critics failed to raise the red flag of propaganda when Trump鈥檚 predecessor used American tax dollars to present himself with well-produced (and pretty expensive) videos that come a lot closer to bona fide propaganda than the Trump/Pence reelection videos they鈥檙e complaining about,鈥� conservative radio host Larry O鈥機onnor in an opinion piece on mediaite.com.
A number of news outlets compared 鈥淭rump TV鈥� with a slick weekly wrap-up of Obama achievements called 鈥淲est Wing Week鈥� that was produced by the White House.