Trump demands firing of presidents of two TV networks

US President Donald Trump on Thursday demanded the firing of the presidents of two key US television networks -- CNN and NBC -- whom he accused of being biased against him.

Specifically, Trump took to Twitter to call for CNN President Jeff Zucker, who has been the target of the president's criticism on multiple occasions, and NBC chief Andy lack to be fired, Efe reported.

"The hatred and extreme bias of me by @CNN has clouded their thinking and made them unable to function. But actually, as I have always said, this has been going on for a long time. Little Jeff Z has done a terrible job, his ratings suck, & AT&T should fire him to save credibility!" tweeted Trump in the first of several Twitter posts on the matter.

Immediately after that, the US President also unloaded on NBC, another of the most popular networks in the US.

"What's going on at @CNN is happening, to different degrees, at other networks - with @NBCNews being the worst. The good news is that Andy Lack(y) is about to be fired(?) for incompetence, and much worse," Trump posted.

The President refers almost daily to CNN and other media outlets, including NBC, as the "fake news media", attacks that he has also leveled against longstanding newspapers such as The Washington Post.

Quite apart from zeroing in once again on the communications media, Trump on Tuesday accused tech giant Google of "rigging" its online search engine to "suppress voices of Conservatives" and providing mainly negative news about his administration in response to searches for "news on Trump".

The President's remarks come amid the growing alarm in the US over the dissemination of false news stories via the social networks.

--IANS

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