Donald Trump has been accused of inciting violence against the media after he tweeted a video clip of him beating up a person with a CNN logo covering their head. 

In a statement, CNN said the US president was "involved in juvenile behaviour far below the dignity of his office" and "encouraging violence against reporters."

CNN's response quoted Mr Trump’s deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who had told the press that “the President in no way, form or fashion has ever promoted or encouraged violence.”

Mr Trump's tweet, which included '#FraudNewsCNN' in text accompanying the tweeted video, is a doctored version of footage dating back to 2007. 

Back then, Mr Trump had made an appearance at a WWE evening and 'attacked' franchise owner Vince McMahon. The incident was scripted. 

The edited version of the clip including the CNN logo has been traced back to a pro-Trump forum on social news site Reddit, where it quickly rose to be one of the site's most popular posts. 

Mr Trump's anti-CNN tweet caps a hectic week for journalists covering the White House. Just some days ago, Mr Trump was embroiled in a war of words with the presenters of popular US TV show Morning Joe, after he tweeted a series of derogatory remarks about the show's hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.

The US president called Mr Scarborough "psycho" and said "low IQ Mika" had been "bleeding badly from a face-lift" during a New Year's Eve event at his Mar-a-Lago resort. 

 

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