President Donald Trump is the primary source and also the main user of "fake news," former deputy secretary of state Tony Blinken told CNN on Monday.
"This is what's really troubling to me," Blinken told CNN. "We've gotten to the point where the president has become the leading consumer and purveyor of fake news or conspiracy theories. The president is the one who is supposed to be setting the standard, not diminishing it."
Commenting on Trump's claim President Barack Obama put a wiretap on his office in Trump Tower, Blinken said a wiretap would only have been made available for a president if a judge decided there was probable cause, which would put Trump in a poor light.
"One of the most puzzling things about this whole incident is, why President Trump would want to put a spotlight on this, because if there was a wiretap, it would have to be for good reason, and the good reason does not reflect well on him or his associates," Blinken continued. "If there wasn't a wiretap, then he has made an outrageous, unfounded accusation against his [predecessor] President Obama," Blinken, now a global affiars analyst for CNN, said.
Blinken said Trump's claims over the years, such as the "birther" controversy, have tested the reliability of information coming from the president.
"That really undermines the credibility of the person for whom credibility is the most important currency," Blinken said.
Blinken responded Saturday via Twitter to Trump's tweets about wiretaps:
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