President Donald Trump tried to use the Oscars ceremony Sunday night (March 4) to get his supporters to take a new poll, one of a series of polls his campaign has sent out to collect intelligence on the president's base.
As usual, Trump attacked the media to try to generate survey responses.
"Everyone in D.C. and the media have been shouting at each other, but they need to stop and listen to the only people that matter -- YOU," said the e-mail under his name. "Reporters don’t get to make laws and politicians don’t get to usher in sweeping change without FIRST consulting you. And every single time we learn the same thing -- that the mainstream media is TOTALLY out of touch with the hardworking Americans who truly run our nation."
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But "Team Trump" aimed the solicitation at the Oscars as well in a follow-up email Sunday, even before the ceremony actually aired. "We never received your 2018 Listening to America Survey," the follow-up said. "There’s no better time to complete it than during the Oscars -- while a bunch of Hollywood liberals prove to the country that they have NO IDEA what the real America thinks or believes."
The Oscar's telecast cast light on Trump attacks, with most of the pointed political comments having to do with being more inclusive and highlighting the contributions of immigrants, some of which were made on both the presenting and receiving end of awards.
"The Oscars are NOTHING but a three-hour ad by Hollywood liberals blasting their hatred for hardworking patriots like you," said Team Trump.
The president also took to Twitter before the broadcast to suggest the mainstream media was unhinged and a source of worldwide derision:
Mainstream Media in U.S. is being mocked all over the world. They’ve gone CRAZY! https://t.co/4UGYuJpUA7
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 3, 2018
Press freedom groups have argued that the president's unrelenting attacks on mainstream media give aid and comfort to journalistic oppression here and abroad and represent an unprecedented existential threat.
