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This is not a love story with a happy ending.

No, this is a story of unrequited romance, of the bitter sting of betrayal, of heartbreak and public humiliation. It's the story of that person we all know who just can't stop crawling back over and over again.

This is the story of Donald Trump and The New York Times.

Trump has publicly confessed his addiction to the media and sworn off CNN and Morning Joe more times than one can reasonably count. He has declared the press to be the "enemy of the people" and put reporters from Pulitzer Prize-winning institutions on blacklists, forbidden from covering his campaign events.

But the organization Trump can't seem to quit also happens to be his hometown paper perhaps the most respected journalistic institution of all.

The only thing that torments him is the disapproval of The New York Times," said Trump biographer Michael D'Antonio. "Every story that is critical of him hurts.

"There is no paper that captures Trump's imagination more than The New York Times, except possibly the New York Post," said Maggie Haberman, the paper's White House correspondent. "But the Times to him represents Manhattan elites whose approval he has wanted for decades."

Trump's love affair with the Grey Lady dates back to his youth, when the island of Manhattan had not yet become home. In a powerful piece addressing Trump during the presidential campaign last year, Garrison Keillor hit the nail on the head: "The New York Times treats you like the village idiot," he told Trump. "This is painful for a Queens boy trying to win respect in Manhattan where the Times is the Supreme Liberal Jewish Anglican Arbiter of Who Has The Smarts and What Goes Where."

Keillor continued: "To the Times, Queens is Cleveland. Bush league. You are Queens."

The first time Trump's name appeared in the paper, he was 27, and the headline blared: "Major Landlord Accused of Antiblack Bias in City." It was 1973; a baby-faced Trump insisted that the federal charges that he and his father had "refused to rent or negotiate rentals 'because of race and color'" were "absolutely ridiculous." Those were his first words printed in the paper of record.

By 1976, the Times allowed Trump a more favorable light. In a profile of the golden-haired real estate mogul, the Times effused: "He is tall, lean, and blond, with dazzling white teeth, and he looks ever so much like Robert Redford. He rides around town in a chauffeured silver Cadillac with his initials, DJT, on the plates. He dates slinky fashion models, belongs to the most elegant clubs and, at only 30 years of age, estimates that he is worth 'more than $200 million.'"

Donald Trump had made it.

The paper had always occupied a venerated place in Trump's mind, but it had blossomed into an obsession by the 1980s. "If I take a full-page ad in The New York Times to publicize a project, it might cost $40,000, and in any case, people tend to be skeptical about advertising," Trump wrote in The Art of the Deal. "But if The New York Times writes even a moderately positive one-column story about one of my deals, it doesn't cost me anything, and it's worth a lot more than $40,000."

Trump added in a moment of startling honesty: "The funny thing is that even a critical story, which may be hurtful personally, can be very valuable to your business."

By the time Trump announced he was running for president in 2015, the personal hurt he had identified in the '80s was a familiar burn, but no less easy to bear. "Donald Trump, Pushing Someone Rich, Offers Himself" read the Times' headline on the day he announced his candidacy. Then came the blistering first paragraph:

Donald J. Trump, the garrulous real estate developer whose name has adorned apartment buildings, hotels, Trump-brand neckties, and Trump-brand steaks, announced on Tuesday his entry into the 2016 presidential race, brandishing his wealth and fame as chief qualifications in an improbable quest for the Republican nomination. [The New York Times]

In less than six months, Trump would slam The New York Times as "failing" for the first time:

By May 2016, it had become a fixation. On one particularly bad day, Trump tweeted at the Times no fewer than nine times. He has publicly called the paper "failing" in at least 55 separate tweets. "Every story is bad," Trump grieved at a rally in Columbus, Ohio. "Sometimes I'll say, 'Oh, great, this was so good, I'm going to have a great story tomorrow in The New York Times.' You know, they'll call. Always turns out to be a disaster. It's so dishonest."

But behind the scenes, Trump was unable to give the Times up. His particular loathing and fascination was linked to two of the paper's reporters, Maureen Dowd and Maggie Haberman, who offered readers frank and often unflattering portraits of the Republican candidate. "Donald Trump is mad at me," Dowd wrote last July, sounding ever so much like an unmoved girlfriend whose ex won't stop texting her. "He thinks I've treated him 'very badly.' But he returned my call on Friday night on his way to a rally in Colorado and agreed to do a lightning round on the Democratic convention."

Dowd has even fired warning shots at the president in the form of open letters published in the Sunday Review section. From March 2017:

Dear Donald,

We've known each other a long time, so I think I can be blunt.

You know how you said at campaign rallies that you did not like being identified as a politician?

Don't worry. No one will ever mistake you for a politician.

After this past week, they won't even mistake you for a top-notch negotiator. [The New York Times]

But no one affects Trump quite like Haberman. "She's always going to have a special place with the president," Trump's former campaign aide, Sam Nunberg, told CNN Money. "She's one of the most influential political reporters, and it's The New York Times. It may be 'the failing New York Times,' but it's also the crown jewel, and he loves it."

Occasionally, Trump's spats with the paper of record would play out in public. In August, Trump shared a report by the Times and slammed the publication for "bias" in the span of minutes:

And by November, Trump had flipped-flopped on a meeting with The New York Times so quickly and vehemently that it gave observers whiplash:

Times reporters were dizzied. "Though one of his splenetic tweets just seven hours before our meeting had again branded the Times a 'failing' news organization, he said to our faces that we weren't just a 'great, great American jewel' but a 'world jewel,'" said Frank Bruni, who also recalled Trump approaching him at a meeting in the Times building in New York and saying: "I'm going to get you to write some good stuff about me."

Added Bruni: "Winning the most powerful office in the world did nothing to diminish [Trump's] epic ache for adoration or outsize need to tell everyone how much he deserves it."

Bruni hits on an important point. In many ways, our 70-year-old president is still not so different from the boy from Queens that Keillor addressed in his piece last year. It may be 44 years since Trump's name first appeared in the paper, but you know what they say about getting over your first love you don't.

"My friends and enemies are all in New York City," Trump told the Times in 1976. Sometimes, they're one and the same.

Go here to see the original:
Donald Trump and The New York Times: An abusive love story - The Week Magazine

Score one, unequivocally, for President Donald Trump: The former reality show host has had more late-night monologue jokes tossed his way in100 days than any other recent presidents entire first year.

One thousand and sixty: Thats the exact number of late-night jokes targeting Trump counted in astudy by George Mason Universitys Center for Media and Public Affairs. Those 1,060 punchlines tower over the numbers hit duringthe entire first years of recent presidents: 936 for Barack Obama in 2009; 546 for George W. Bush in 2001; and 440 forBill Clinton in 1993.

Donald Trump is head and shoulders above the competition as the politician late night comedians most love to hate, saidDr Robert Lichter, CMPA director.

The study also handsthose newly angeredFire Colbert folks somebuckshot to use: Stephen Colbert told the most Trump jokes (337), with Trevor Noah close behind (315). The hair-tousling Jimmy Fallon told231 and Jimmy Kimmel was at 177.

In all, the study counted2,094 political jokes from the opening monologues ofThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah from January 20 through April 29, 2017.

Other findings:

-Trump is on track to easily eclipse previous record-holder Bill Clinton, who had 1,717 jokes told about him in 1998, when the Monica Lewinsky scandal dominated the news. Clintons tally was higher than any other individual tracked by CMPA from 1992 through 2012.

-The amount of Trump jokes nearly tripled the combined 385 joke total of all Democratic politicians (95) and non-administration Republican politicians (290).

-Trumps family members were the buttsof an additional 97 jokes, more than all Democrats combined. When the Trump family jokes are combined with the 373 jokes that were directed toward other members of his administration, the Trump-related joke total rises to 1,530.

The CMPA will update the joke tally through Trumpstime in office.

Read more here:
No Kidding: Study Says Donald Trump Takes More Late-Night Barbs Than Other Presidents - Deadline

FCC chairman Ajit Pai said that his agency will be looking into complaints made against Stephen Colbert for what some labeled a homophobic joke about President Donald Trump.

"I have had a chance to see the clip now and so, as we get complaints and we've gotten a number of them we are going to take the facts that we find and we are going to apply the law as it's been set out by the Supreme Court and other courts and we'll take the appropriate action," Pai told Philadelphia's Talk Radio 1210 WPHT.

"Traditionally, the agency has to decide, if it does find a violation, what the appropriate remedy should be," he continued. "A fine, of some sort, is typically what we do." Pai was appointed to the FCC in 2012 by President Barack Obama. He was elevated to the chairmanship of the commission by Trump in January.

Pai's comments on Colbert are surprising as "The Late Show" airs outside the FCC's long-established "safe harbor" time frame of 6 am to 10 pm in which the commission has the authority to police allegations of indecent and obscene material on the airwaves. They would also seem to clash with Pai's vow to maintain a lighter regulatory environment for media overall.

See photos of Stephen Colbert:

18 PHOTOS

Stephen Colbert out and about

See Gallery

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 01: Stephen Colbert attends 'Rei Kawakubo/Commes Des Garcons: Art of the In-Between' at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 1, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Taylor Hill/FilmMagic))

NEW YORK, NY - MAY 01: Stephen Colbert (L) and Evelyn McGee attend the 'Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art Of The In-Between' Costume Institute Gala at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 1, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images For Entertainment Weekly)

MONTCLAIR, NJ - APRIL 30: Stephen Colbert and John Turturro arrive at Conversation Series Discussion at the Montclair Film Festival 2017 Day Three on April 30, 2017 in Montclair, New Jersey. (Photo by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for Montclair Film Festival)

MONTCLAIR, NJ - APRIL 28: Stephen Colbert and Dolores Huerta arrive at Montclair Film Festival 2017 Opening Night on April 28, 2017 in Montclair, New Jersey. (Photo by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for Montclair Film Festival)

NEW YORK - APRIL 25: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and guest John Legend, Kelly Osbourne, Dr John during Tuesday's 4/25/20 show. (Photo by Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images)

NEW YORK - APRIL 17: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert during Monday's 04/17/17 show in New York. (Photo by Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images)

NEW YORK - APRIL 6: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on *Thursday, April 6, 2017 Special Hybrid Episode: Jessica Lange; Bassem Youssef; Judy Gold. (Photo by Mary Kouw/CBS via Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 02: Evelyn McGee-Colbert and Stephen Colbert attends 'The Play That Goes Wrong' Broadway Opening Night at the Lyceum Theatre on April 2, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Walter McBride/WireImage)

NEW YORK - MARCH 27: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert airing Tuesday March 27, 2017 with Lily Tomlin & Jane Fonda; Jay Chandrasekhar; musical performance by Aimee Mann (Photo by Richard Boeth/CBS via Getty Images)

NEW YORK - MARCH 31: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert airing Friday March 31, 2017 with Susan Sarandon, Joey McIntyre, Robert Klein. (Photo by Richard Boeth/CBS via Getty Images)

NEW YORK - MARCH 21: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday, March 21, 2017 with guest Ryan Reynolds (Photo by Mary Kouw/CBS via Getty Images)

NEW YORK - MARCH 14: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert airing Tuesday, March 14, 2017 with Neil deGrasse Tyson and Todd Barry. (Photo by Timothy Kuratek/CBS via Getty Images)

NEW YORK - MARCH 13: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, interviews with Ewan McGregor, Finn Wittrock and musical performance by The Shins on Monday's taping in New York. Pictured left to right: Finn Wittrock and Stephen Colbert. (Photo by Michele Crowe/CBS via Getty Images)

NEW YORK - MARCH 6: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert airing Monday, March 6, 2017 with Judd Apatow. (Photo by Timothy Kuratek/CBS via Getty Images)

NEW YORK - MARCH 6: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert airing Monday, March 6, 2017 with Anderson Cooper, Judd Apatow and musical performance by Jidenna. (Photo by Timothy Kuratek/CBS via Getty Images)

NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 28: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert airing Tuesday February 28, 2017 with Lisa Kudrow; former White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest; comedian Tony Rock. (Photo by Richard Boeth/CBS via Getty Images)

NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 17: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Friday, Feb. 17, 2017 with guests Julie Andrews; Christina Hendricks (Photo by Mary Kouw/CBS via Getty Images)

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Colbert faced backlash following the Monday night airing of "The Late Show," during which he made numerous jokes about Trump during his opening monologue. Among them, he said, "The only thing [Trump's] mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin's ck holster." Colbert's mouth was blurred and the term was bleepded out for the broadcast, however.

Viewers took to social media to declare Colbert's joke homophobic.The hashtag #FireColbert began spreading around Twitter, along with calls for people to boycott sponsors of the late-night show.

FCC chairman Ajit Pai said that his agency will be looking into complaints made against Stephen Colbert for what some labeled a homophobic joke about President Donald Trump.

"I have had a chance to see the clip now and so, as we get complaints and we've gotten a number of them we are going to take the facts that we find and we are going to apply the law as it's been set out by the Supreme Court and other courts and we'll take the appropriate action," Pai told Philadelphia's Talk Radio 1210 WPHT.

"Traditionally, the agency has to decide, if it does find a violation, what the appropriate remedy should be," he continued. "A fine, of some sort, is typically what we do." Pai was appointed to the FCC in 2012 by President Barack Obama. He was elevated to the chairmanship of the commission by Trump in January.

Pai's comments on Colbert are surprising as "The Late Show" airs outside the FCC's long-established "safe harbor" time frame of 6 am to 10 pm in which the commission has the authority to police allegations of indecent and obscene material on the airwaves. They would also seem to clash with Pai's vow to maintain a lighter regulatory environment for media overall.

Colbert faced backlash following the Monday night airing of "The Late Show," during which he made numerous jokes about Trump during his opening monologue. Among them, he said, "The only thing [Trump's] mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin's ck holster." Colbert's mouth was blurred and the term was bleepded out for the broadcast, however.

Viewers took to social media to declare Colbert's joke homophobic.The hashtag #FireColbert began spreading around Twitter, along with calls for people to boycott sponsors of the late-night show.

RELATED: See photos of Donald Trump during his first 100 days as president:

101 PHOTOS

Donald Trump's first 100 days in office, a photo for each day

See Gallery

US President Donald Trump takes the oath of office with his wife Melania and son Barron at his side, during his inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., January 20, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he leaves the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) headquarters after delivering remarks during a visit in Langley, Virginia U.S., January 21, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

U.S. President Donald Trump shows a letter from former President Barack Obama at a swearing-in ceremony for senior staff at the White House in Washington, DC January 22, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

U.S. President Donald Trump holds up the executive order on withdrawal from the Trans Pacific Partnership after signing it in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington January 23, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters while signing an executive order to advance construction of the Keystone XL pipeline at the White House in Washington January 24, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Donald Trump, left, speaks as U.S. Vice President-elect Mike Pence, center, and John Kelly, secretary of U.S. Homeland Security, stand during a visit to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in Washington, D.C. U.S., on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017. Trump acted on two of the most fundamental -- and controversial -- elements of his presidential campaign, building a wall on the border with Mexico and greatly tightening restrictions on who can enter the U.S. Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Pool via Bloomberg

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks briefly to reporters as he arrives aboard Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S. January 26, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 27: British Prime Minister Theresa May shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump in The Oval Office at The White House on January 27, 2017 in Washington, DC. British Prime Minister Theresa May is on a two-day visit to the United States and will be the first world leader to meet with President Donald Trump. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

U.S. President Donald Trump, flanked by Chief of Staff Reince Priebus (R), speaks by phone with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S. January 28, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Activists march to the US Capitol to protest President Donald Trump's executive actions on immigration in Washington January 29, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order while surrounded by small business leaders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, Jan. 30, 2017. Trump said he will dramatically reduce regulations overall with this executive action as it requires that for every new federal regulation implemented, two must be rescinded. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 31: (AFP OUT) U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Robert J. Hugin, Executive Chairman, Celgene Corporation, as he meets with representatives from PhRMA, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on January 31, 2017 in Washington, DC. According to its website, PhRMA 'represents the country's leading biopharmaceutical researchers and biotechnology companies.' Kenneth C. Frazier, Chairman and CEO of Merck & Co. looks on from left. (Photo by Ron Sachs - Pool/Getty Images)

Rex Tillerson, U.S. Secretary of State for President Donald Trump, left, speaks as U.S. President Donald Trump listen after the swearing-in ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017. Tillerson won Senate confirmation as secretary of state after lawmakers split mostly along party lines on President Trump's choice of an oilman with no government experience but a career negotiating billions of dollars of energy deals worldwide. Photographer: Michael Reynolds/Pool via Bloomberg

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 2: President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence meet with Harley Davidson executives and Union Representatives on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC on Thursday, Feb. 02, 2017. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he arrives at West Palm Beach International airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., February 3, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump attend the 60th Annual Red Cross Gala at Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., February 4, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

US President Donald Trump watches the Super Bowl with First Lady Melania Trump (R) and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus (L) at Trump International Golf Club Palm Beach in West Palm Beach, Florida on February 5, 2017. / AFP / MANDEL NGAN (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

U.S. President Donald Trump salutes as he arrives at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, U.S., February 6, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

U.S. President Donald Trump receives a figurine of a sheriff during a meeting with county sheriffs at the White House in Washington, U.S. February 7, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks while Brian Krzanich, chief executive officer of Intel Corp., left, listens during a meeting at The White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2017. Trump defended his power to put limits on who can enter the U.S., saying it shouldn't be challenged in the courts even as a three-judge panel weighs whether to reinstate restrictions on refugees and travelers from seven predominantly Muslim nations. Photographer: Chris Kleponis/Pool via Bloomberg

U.S. President Donald Trump watches as Vice President Mike Pence (R) swears in Jeff Sessions (L) as U.S. Attorney General while his wife Mary Sessions holds the Bible in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., February 9, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is greeted by U.S. President Donald Trump (L) ahead of their joint news conference at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 10, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump pose for photos with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Akke Abe at Trump's Mar-a-Lagoresort in Palm Beach, Florida, on February 11, 2017 prior to dinner. / AFP / NICHOLAS KAMM (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)

U.S. President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., February 12, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (L) and U.S. President Donald Trump shake hands during a joint news conference at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 13, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Donald Trump listens to U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos speak at meeting with teachers and parents at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 14, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Donald Trump (2ndR) and first lady Melania Trump greet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara (L) as they arrive at the South Portico of the White House in Washington, U.S., February 15, 2017.REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Donald Trump announces Alexander Acosta as his new nominee to lead the Department of Labor during a news conference at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 16, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Donald Trump walks with his grandchildren Arabella and Joseph to Marine One upon his departure from the White House in Washington, U.S., February 17, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump acknowledge supporters during a "Make America Great Again" rally at Orlando Melbourne International Airport in Melbourne, Florida, U.S. February 18, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

The motorcade of U.S. President Donald Trump turns into Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida U.S., February 19, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Donald Trump announces his new National Security Adviser Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster (L) and that acting adviser Keith Kellogg (R) will become the chief of staff of the National Security Council at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida U.S. February 20, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 21: (AFP OUT) President Donald Trump tours the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture on February 21, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch - Pool/Getty Images)

Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney (L) listens to U.S. President Donald Trump speak during a "strategic initiatives" lunch at the White House in Washington, U.S., February 22, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for a meeting with experts on addressing human trafficking at the White House in Washington, DC, U.S. February 23, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Oxon Hill, Maryland, U.S. February 24, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

U.S. President Donald Trump leaves after a dinner at Trump International Hotel in Washington, U.S., February 25, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 26: AFP OUT President Donald Trump delivers brief remarks before a toast during the annual Governors' Dinner in the East Room of the White House February 26, 2017 in Washington, DC. Part of the National Governors Association annual meeting in the nation's capital, the black tie dinner and ball is the first formal event the Trumps will host at the White House since moving in last month. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 27: U.S. President Donald Trump poses with the Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the Oval Office of the White House, on February 27, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Aude Guerrucci-Pool/Getty Images)

US Vice President Mike Pence (L) and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R) applaud as US President Donald J. Trump (C) arrives to deliver his first address to a joint session of Congress from the floor of the House of Representatives in Washington, DC, USA, 28 February 2017. REUTERS/Jim Lo Scalzo

U.S. President Donald Trump looks up while hosting a House and Senate leadership lunch at the White House in Washington, U.S. March 1, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Donald Trump tours the pre-commissioned U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford at Huntington Ingalls Newport News Shipbuilding facilities in Newport News, Virginia, U.S. March 2, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

U.S. President Donald Trump, joined by U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (from L), U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and White House advisor Jared Kushner, thanks fourth-grade students for the "Happy Birthday Florida" card they gave him as he visits their classroom at Saint Andrew Catholic School in Orlando, Florida, U.S. March 3, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

WEST PALM BEACH, FL - MARCH 04: US President Donald Trump waves from his vehicle as he stops while being driven past supporters near his Mar-a-Lago resort home on March 4, 2017 in West Palm Beach, Florida. President Trump spent part of the weekend at the house. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 05: President Donald J. Trump walks across the South Lawn towards the White House on March 5, 2017 in Washington, DC. Trump is returning from a weekend at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach. Florida. (Photo by Erik S. Lesser-Pool/Getty Images)

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (L) and U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions stand together after speaking on issues related to visas and travel after U.S. President Donald Trump signed a new travel ban order in Washington, U.S., March 6, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Beside a painting of Hillary Clinton, U.S. President Donald Trump makes a surprise appearance in front of a tour group at the White House in Washington, U.S. March 7, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 8: First Lady Melania Trump arrives at a luncheon she was hosting to mark International Women's Day in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, DC on Wednesday, March. 08, 2017. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 09: US President Donald Trump greets Dorothy Savarese, CEO of Cape Cod Five Mutual Company, during a National Economic Council listening session with the CEOs of small and community banks, in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on March 9, 2017 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)

U.S. President Donald Trump talks with Representative Greg Walden (R-OR) during a healthcare meeting with key House Committee Chairmen at the White House in Washington, U.S., March 10, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

POTOMAC FALLS, VA - MARCH 11: President Donald Trump has a working lunch with staff and cabinet members and significant others at his golf course, Trump National on March 11, 2017 in Potomac Falls, Virginia. (Photo by Pete Marovich-Pool/Getty Images)

A boy looks at a man dressed in the likeness of U.S. President Donald Trump as ultra Orthodox Jewish men dressed in Purim costumes take part in the reading from the Book of Esther ceremony performed on the Jewish holiday of Purim, a celebration of the Jews' salvation from genocide in ancient Persia, as recounted in the Book of Esther, in Jerusalem March 12, 2017. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

U.S. President Donald Trump is applauded by his cabinet as he signs an executive order entitled "Comprehensive Plan for Reorganizing the Executive Branch" in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S. March 13, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

U.S. President Donald Trump and Saudi Deputy Crown Prince and Minister of Defense Mohammed bin Salman enter the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., March 14, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Donald Trump takes the stage for a rally at Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. March 15, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Ireland's Prime Minister Enda Kenny (R) presents a traditional gift of a bowl of shamrocks to U.S. President Donald Trump during a St. Patrick's Day reception at the White House in Washington, U.S. March 16, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) and U.S. President Donald Trump walk to a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., March 17, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

The motorcade of U.S. President Donald Trump makes its way to Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., March 18, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters with New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft at his side aboard Air Force One as he departs West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., to return to Washington March 19, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn of the White House to board Marine One before departing to Louisville, Kentucky, in Washington U.S., March 20, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

U.S. President Donald Trump receives a NASA jacket during a signing ceremony for S442, the NASA transition authorization act, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., March 21, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

See the original post:
FCC to investigate Stephen Colbert over controversial Donald Trump joke - AOL

SAUL LOEB

"He considers exercise misguided, arguing that a person, like a battery, is born with a finite amount of energy."

The good people at The New Yorker have published a lengthy feature exploring the tantalizing possibility that President Trump could be removed from office, via either the impeachment process or the Twenty-Fifth Amendment, before the conclusion of his term. (Our friend Allan Lichtman, an American University political science professor and stone-cold elections genius, discussed both of these subjects in an interview with GQ last month.) Right now, though, is not the time to discuss the machinations of arcane constitutional processes or tackle esoteric debates about the role impeachment plays in ensuring the continued legitimacy of the republic. No, we are here to discuss the revelations contained in this breathtaking paragraph:

There has been considerable speculation about Trumps physical and mental health, in part because few facts are known. During the campaign, his staff reported that he was six feet three inches tall and weighed two hundred and thirty-six pounds, which is considered overweight but not obese...Trump himself says that he is not a big sleeper (I like three hours, four hours) and professes a fondness for steak and McDonalds. Other than golf, he considers exercise misguided, arguing that a person, like a battery, is born with a finite amount of energy.

Yes, President Trump, an adult man who has access to the entire body of human scientific knowledge via the same device he primarily uses to disseminate his stream-of-consciousness takes in 140-character spurts, apparently believes that the billions of people around the world who regularly engage in some form of physical activity are idiots that are slowly and voluntarily killing themselves. As the Washington Post's Michael Kranish and Marc Fisher explained in a recent book:

After college, after Trump mostly gave up his personal athletic interests, he came to view time spent playing sports as time wasted. Trump believed the human body was like a battery, with a finite amount of energy, which exercise only depleted. So he didnt work out. When he learned that John ODonnell, one of his top casino executives, was training for an Ironman triathlon, he admonished him, "You are going to die young because of this."

In a 2015 New York Times profile, Trump disclosed the "evidence"scare quotes used for reasons that will immediately become apparenton which he relies for this worldview, instantly turning transmogrifying into the human embodiment of the "wow makes u think" meme.

Trump said he was not following any special diet or exercise regimen for the campaign. "All my friends who work out all the time, theyre going for knee replacements, hip replacementstheyre a disaster," he said.

Alternatively, this sage observation could be related to the fact that Donald Trump is a 70-year-old overweight male, and that many of his friends are also in that sweet spot for joint replacement, but let's not let a little rational thinking get in the way of a worldview so astonishingly facile that it makes the flat-earth truthers look like a regular pack of Neil DeGrasse Tysons.

He exerts himself fully by standing in front of an audience for an hour, as he just did. "Thats exercise."

For decades, American presidents have maintained a (mostly) proud tradition of exercising in office. Sure, William Howard Taft was so, um, imposing that he had to have a custom bathtub installed in the White House. But since then, President Clinton's runs on the National Mall and his gloriously mid-'90s jogging suits have become the stuff of legend, while President George W. Bush was a bona fide psychopath who would actually wait to start his run until Washington D.C. hit a sweltering 100 degrees. President Obama was a notorious gym rat and a lifelong pickup basketball player. And in a sentence so cool that it physically pains me to type it, Teddy Roosevelt survived an assassination attempt after a bullet failed to penetrate his chest muscles. (Congratulations to those of you who just screamed "GOALS" in public and are now enduring withering glares from strangers.) I'm no doctor, but it seems unlikely that Donald Trump's "standing is the new high-intensity interval training" mantra stacks up very well against the fitness regimens of his predecessors.

Admittedly, it is possible that the president's dubious opinion about the merits of exercise is a tongue-in-cheek line he crafted to make light of his sincere aversion to the practice, sort of like when I explain to bewildered strangers that my important burrito-eating obligations prevent me from looking like a shirtless Cristiano Ronaldo. But given the Commander-in-Chiefs well-documented affection for other wild theories for which there exists no evidence, giving him the benefit of the doubt here might be a bit too generous. On the off-chance that anyone requires clarification or confirmation on this point: Exercise is good, and no matter what Donald Trump says or how long he stands in front of an audience for, you should do it.

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Donald Trump's Profoundly Stupid Views on Exercise Are Perfectly American - GQ Magazine

Major networks including CNN, ABC, CBS and NBC are refusing to air a Donald Trump 2020 campaign ad that attacks mainstream media.

The 30-second spotfocuses on the presidents first 100 days in office, touting his confirmation of Supreme Court justice Neil Gorsuch as well as pushing forth of the Keystone Pipeline construction and slashing regulations. You wouldnt know it from watching the news, a voiceover says.

It also notably features the words fake news, a phrase Trump often uses to undermine reporting with which he disagrees, over the faces of well-known journalists such as Rachel Maddow of MSNBC and George Stephanopoulos of ABC. CNN was the first network to nix the ad, according to The Wrap.

Now, the Trump campaign is responding. On Friday, presidential campaign consultant and quelle surprise the commander in chiefs daughter-in-law Lara Trump called it an unprecedented act of censorship in America that should concern every freedom-loving citizen in a post written on DonaldJTrump.com.

Apparently, the mainstream media are champions of the First Amendment only when it serves their own political views, she said in a statement.

On Thursday night, Variety noted, Lara appeared on Fox News to promote the campaign.

Its a great ad and it highlights all the wonderful things that have happened that you dont hear about every day because some people dont watch Fox News, she told hostSean Hannity.

CNN issued its own statement in response to the ad earlier this week, saying that if the inaccurate fake news graphic was removed, there would be no problem airing the spot.

The mainstream media is not fake news, and therefore the ad is false and per policy will be accepted only if that graphic is deleted, the network said.

NBCUniversal and ABC offered similar explanations for their rejection of the ad, per Deadline, citing inconsistency with advertising guidelines as the reason for its removal.

Read the original here:
Unsurprisingly, Networks Refuse To Air Donald Trump's 'Fake News' Ad Against Them - Huffington post (press release) (blog)