CNN tops 'fake news' list

Donald Trump gave the broadcaster CNN four of his "fake news" awards yesterday as he used the gimmick to escalate his attacks on media.

The US President singled out the New York Times twice while the broadcaster ABC and the magazines Time and Newsweek were each mentioned once.

Claims of "collusion" between the Trump campaign and Russia — a topic which has overshadowed the presidency and is being investigated by a special counsel — was also named.

The so-called "awards" were presented in list form and specified particular stories about his presidency, some of which have previously resulted in apologies. However, the President was mocked online after a link he posted to the list, which was hosted on the Republican Party's website, failed to load.

A spokesman for the party later said that the surge in traffic had crashed the website. Details of the awards instead had to be garnered from what appeared to be an archived version of the website before it crashed.

CNN was named in four of the 11 awards — more than any other outlet.

One was for when it "falsely reported that candidate Donald Trump and his son Donald J. Trump jnr had access to hacked documents from WikiLeaks". Another was for when it "falsely reported about Anthony Scaramucci's meeting with a Russian". A third was for when the broadcaster "falsely edited a video to make it appear Trump defiantly overfed fish during a visit with the Japanese prime minister". The fourth was for when CNN "falsely reported that former FBI Director James Comey would dispute President Trump's claim that he was told he is not under investigation". The wording — which included capital letters for the words "falsely" — was constructed by the Republican Party and frames the stories in a negative light.

- Telegraph Group Ltd