Donald Trump has claimed the media is deliberately downplaying terror attacks to the point where incidents are “not even being reported”, despite widespread coverage of atrocities across the world.
In a speech to US service men and women in Tampa, Florida, the US President went off script to launch yet another attack on the media - and with no evidence to support his claim.
Trump has been forced on to the back foot over his travel ban targetted at predominantly Muslim countries, and his remarks on the scale of the terror threat were designed to support his troubled policy.
Some commentators have argued the media has sensationalised attacks, gives more coverage to attacks in Western countries, and underplays incidents when Muslims are victim, such as the six people killed at a Quebec City mosque last week.
But Trump is not addressing any of these concerns as he argued the “very, very dishonest press” is involved in a cover-up.
It follows one of his key aides, Kellyanne Conway, attempting to justify the ban by claiming the media failed to report the “Bowling Green massacre”, an entirely fabricated terrorist attack.
Today Trump said:
“Radical Islamic terrorists are determined to strike our homeland as they did on 9/11, as they did from Boston to Orlando to San Bernadino.
“And all across Europe we’ve seen what happened in Paris and Nice. All over Europe it’s happening.
“It’s gotten to a point where it’s not even being reported. In many cases, the very, very dishonest press doesn’t want to report it. They have their reasons and you understand that.”