In their first ever meeting at the G20 summit on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and American President Donald Trump joked about the “legacy” media’s relentless attacks on Trump.
“These are the ones insulting you?” Putin asked Trump, as a gaggle of reporters jockeyed for the president’s attention.
With a smile and a laugh, Trump replied, “These are the ones. You’re right about that.”
This joke echoed Putin’s earlier appearance with NBC host Megyn Kelly, where he powerfully ridiculed the Trump-Russia collusion narrative.
“For me, this is just amazing. You created a sensation out of nothing, and out of this sensation, you turned it into a weapon of war against the current president,” Putin told Kelly in the interview last month. “You people are so creative over there, good job. Your lives must be boring.”
He later asked, “Have you all lost your senses over there?”
In an age of “fake news” accusations from both sides, Putin’s mocking the media with Trump was a good funny moment for the two to share.
Even so, it should not be forgotten that Putin’s regime has silenced the press, and murdered at least 34 journalists since 2000, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. Trump has only mocked journalists, deriding CNN especially as “fake news.”
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