On March 9, 2024, X user @BidenHQ – an official rapid response account for U.S. President Joe Biden's reelection campaign – posted a video (archived) that purported to show former President Donald Trump pointing at members of the press and calling them "criminals."
Trump says the press are "criminals" pic.twitter.com/WLC2e8Bp9Q
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) March 9, 2024
This video was also posted by Democratic strategist Adam Parkhomenko, who previously served as the director of grassroots engagement for former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump: I watch these criminals back there, the press. Look at them. Look at how many of them. That's a lot of people. pic.twitter.com/Kc9ZQ0vP6y
— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) March 9, 2024
It's true that Trump pointed at members of the press and called them "criminals." The clip posted on X came from part of a Trump campaign rally on March 9 at the Forum River Center venue in Rome, Georgia. The speech lasted just under two hours, according to a complete video of the remarks posted on C-SPAN.org.
"I watch these criminals back there. The press," Trump said, pointing at the cameras and reporters in the room. "Look at them. Look at how many of them. That's a lot of people. That's a lot of people. Wow. I always say they should endorse me because I'm the best thing that ever happened to their ratings."
Moments later, Trump said, "But we need a free and fair press. And they're totally wise to you," he said, speaking to the members of the press. "You know, the people are wise to these people. And I'm not saying all of them. I'd say about 94.2 percent."
Near the end of the same speech, while speaking to the gathered crowd over dramatic music, Trump said he believed the press to be "fake news" and "the enemy of the people" — two phrases he had previously used at other times in past years.
"We are a nation that no longer has a free and fair press. Fake news is all you get," he said. "And they indeed, oh yes, they are indeed the enemy of the people."
This moment occurs at the 1:37:58 mark in the following YouTube video posted by Atlanta News First:
In contrast to Trump's "enemy of the people" rhetoric, Biden previously affirmed in past years his belief that the press is "not the enemy of the people."
"The free press is not the enemy of the people," Biden said on World Press Freedom Day in 2022. "Quite the opposite, when driven by a quest to illuminate and educate, not inflame or entertain, the free press is the guardian of truth."