President Trump was not joking when he tweeted that the White House would be handing out fake news awards to select members of the media this coming Monday. The president made the announcement on Twitter Tuesday night and two White House spokeswomen, Kellyanne Conway and Sarah Huckabee Sanders, subsequently confirmed that the event will indeed be taking place and many individuals are being considered for the dubious honor.
I will be announcing THE MOST DISHONEST & CORRUPT MEDIA AWARDS OF THE YEAR on Monday at 5:00 o’clock. Subjects will cover Dishonesty & Bad Reporting in various categories from the Fake News Media. Stay tuned!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2018
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway told Fox News Wednesday morning that Trump was quite serious about publicly calling out the “most dishonest and corrupt” reporting of last year. She added that the “struggle there will be how in the world to narrow it down to one or two winners.”
“Nobody has asked me to vote. The president can make his own decisions in that regard,” she said.
According to Conway, many reporters are “very bold” about slamming the president on social media and on TV but in person, it’s another story.
“When they’re in his company, the knees start knocking. I’ve actually had to pick up people’s cell phones that they drop and hand it back to them,” she explained.
Wednesday afternoon, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders also faced questions about Trump’s plan to hand out the humiliating awards.
Debra Saunders of the Las Vegas Review-Journal wanted to know where in the White house the event would take place and whether it would be televised. Saunders also wanted to know how many awards would be given out and whether the press would be invited to attend the ceremony.
“I certainly don’t want to spoil anything,” Sanders responded. “My guess is that there are quite a few individuals that could be up for those awards.”
“I’ll certainly keep you posted,” she added after Saunders asked whether the press would be in the room. “It might be hard for him to present trophies if [you’re] not there.”
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