Trump cites Rush Limbaugh to defend fiery press conference

pulse

February 17, 2017 12:42 PM

"Thank you for all of the nice statements on the Press Conference yesterday. Rush Limbaugh said one of greatest ever. Fake media not happy!"

US President Donald Trump at a news conference at the White House on Thursday.

President Donald Trump has tweeted out praise of his epic 77-minute Thursday press conference, adding that he thought the "fake media" was "not happy!"

"Thank you for all of the nice statements on the Press Conference yesterday," Trump tweeted Friday morning. "Rush Limbaugh said one of greatest ever. Fake media not happy!"

The conservative radio host Limbaugh on Thursday described Trump's press conference as "fantastic," saying, "the American people are gonna eat this up," according to a transcript on his official site.

"This was one of the most effective press conferences I've ever seen," Limbaugh said. "When I say 'effective,' I'm talking about rallying people who voted for him to stay with him."

Other conservative commentators were complimentary of Thursday's press conference as well.

Here's Sean Hannity of Fox News:

At the same time, Fox News host Shepard Smith slammed Trump for his evasion of a question about his administration's communications with Russia.

"We are not fools for asking this question, and we demand to know the answer to this question," Smith said. "You owe this to the American people. If your people were on the phone with [the Russians], what were they saying? We have a right to know ... The people deserve that answer, at very least."

The press conference, ostensibly called so that Trump could announce Alexander Acosta as his new pick for labor secretary, was quickly used by Trump to defend his young presidency and launch an assault on the news media.

Business Insider's Allan Smith described the press conference as "among the most surreal and unprecedented the US has witnessed in 228 years of having a president."

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