Donald Trump calls Buzzfeed's report "sad and pathetic"
Donald Trump was on the offensive in his first press conference of 2017
Trump and his team dismissed the salacious report in the staunchest of terms
by Elliott Troop (article) and Parasshuram Shalgar (video)
In a press conference nine days before his inauguration, the president-elect Donald Trump dismissed a recent Buzzfeed report as a "direct attempt to sabotage" his presidency before it has even begun. Donald Trump prefaced his first press conference since July 2016 by directly responding to the allegations in the report, stating: "A thing like that should never have been written [the Buzzfeed report]. It should never have been released."
A condemnation of the report
Further, Donald Trump praised the press, citing his "great respect for the freedom of the press". Before Mike Pence introduced the president-elect, Sean Spicer, Trump's incoming press secretary, condemned the Buzzfeed report.
"It is frankly outrageous and highly irresponsible reporting from a left wing blog [Buzzfeed]. Dropping highly salacious false information just days before he [Trump] takes office is a pathetic attempt to garner clicks".
Mike Pence, the incoming vice president, said that the items published by Buzzfeed were yet another attempt to "delegitimse Trump's election victory. The publication of these documents is a further example of media bias".
Half way through the press conference, in reference to the report, Trump joked about "tiny cameras in foreign hotel rooms [that] you've got to be careful of". Trump continued, dismissing Buzzfeed's accusation that he paid three prostitutes to urinate on him in a hotel room as "ludicrous because I'm a germaphome".
Later in the speech, Trump, for the first time since he won the election, appeared to accept Russia's involvement with the US Presidential Election and the hacking of Democratic party emails."As far as hacking goes," Trump stated, "I think it was Russia, but I also think that we get hacked by a lot of other countries". Trump went on, blaming the Democratic party for not having adequate defences against being hacked.
When asked if Vladimir Putin was responsible for his election as 45th president of the US, Trump deftly dodged the question, responding by saying: "If Vladimir Putin likes Donald Trump that is an asset and not a liability, we have a terrible relationship with Russia and we should be looking to improve that relationship".
Elliott Troop
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