Trump demands sacking of Washington Post journo for tweeting 'phony' pic

On December 10, 2017, it was reported that President Donald Trump had demanded the firing of a Washington Post reporter who tweeted a misleading photo of an arena. The reporter had posted an image of a half-empty venue to mock Trump’s assertion that a Friday rally in Pensacola was “packed to the rafters.” The incident followed previous instances where Trump had defended his own crowd sizes, including boasting about the size of an audience while speaking to Hurricane Harvey victims in Texas.

The reporter deleted the post after another journalist pointed out the image was inaccurate, explaining he had been confused by seeing Trump in the corner of the picture. Trump later posted a tweet accusing the reporter and the newspaper of willingly spreading fake news and using a phony photo.

The reporter, who previously wrote for the magazine Reason, apologized and clarified that the post was a bad tweet on his personal account rather than an official story for the Washington Post. He added that it was fair to call him out.