President Trump says Sinclair is ‘far superior to CNN’

On the morning of April 2, President Donald Trump tweeted, "So funny to watch Fake News Networks, among the most dishonest groups of people I have ever dealt with, criticize Sinclair Broadcasting for being biased. Sinclair is far superior to CNN and even more Fake NBC, which is a total joke." Sinclair viewers across the country -- who may not know who owns their local CBS, ABC, NBC or Fox affiliate -- are seeing journalists bash their own profession while parroting one of President Trump's favorite talking points. While the message contains grains of truth, it could leave the false impression that many reporters are fabricators — an idea President Trump likes to promote because it grants voters permission to disbelieve whatever information they wish were untrue. Individual Sinclair stations employ their own journalists to cover local news, but the company also centrally produces segments about national issues — sometimes with a clearly pro-Trump bent — that local stations must air. Sinclair's chief political analyst is Boris Epshteyn, a former Trump aide. Stations are often required to broadcast Epshteyn's commentary. HBO's John Oliver ripped Sinclair's “creepy” message on “Last Week Tonight,” saying, “Nothing says ‘We value independent media’ like dozens of reporters forced to repeat the same message over and over again like members of a brainwashed cult.”