President Donald Trump Friday slammed the media for its coverage of the death of Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts, saying that coverage of her story has slowed down once it was reported her accused killer was in the United States illegally.
"They charged an illegal alien in the murder of a college student Mollie Tibbetts — the amazing thing is that everybody was talking about Mollie, beautiful wonderful incredible person, everybody that met her loved her," Trump said during a wide-ranging, hour-long speech at the Ohio Republican Party Dinner in Columbus, Ohio, according to a livestream video from Fox News.
However, the story changed when it was reported that an illegal immigrant had been charged in her death, said Trump.
"When they found out that it was this horrible illegal immigrant that viciously killed her — they didn't want to cover it the way that they should," he said, adding, "Our hearts go out, we mourn for Mollie's family."
The suspect, Cristhian Bahena Rivera, is from Mexico, but had worked for four years at an Iowa dairy farm after using false identification, his former employer said this week.
Trump Friday also slammed CBS and ESPN over their plans to skip the national anthem during their NFL game broadcasts, deriding the networks for hiding from controversy.
"We're standing proudly for our great, beautiful, wonderful national anthem, which CBS, I just heard they joined the crew, and ESPN have decided not to broadcast so they don't have any controversy. Can you imagine that?" Trump said.
"They're not going to broadcast the national anthem CBS and ESPN, how do we like that, is that good?" he added.
On Wednesday, the president released a petition in hopes of forcing ESPN to include the anthem in broadcasts this fall.
The president also during his speech praised Rep. Jim Jordan and his college wrestling career, saying the Ohio Republican remains tough.
"He was one of the best wrestlers ever in college wrestling," said Trump of Jordan, a founding member of the congressional Freedom Caucus. "When you see the way he fights, every time he fights I say to my wife, 'look at that guy, that is tough.' He lost one match in three years of college."
Jordan plans to run to replace Speaker Paul Ryan, but has been the subject of controversy after former Ohio State University wrestlers claimed he ignored their reports of sexual abuse by the school's athletics doctor, Richard Strauss.
The president, meanwhile, attacked Democrat Richard Cordray, who is running for governor, and claimed that Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren "groomed" him.
"He was groomed by Pocahontas," Trump said. "He was groomed by Elizabeth Warren, his name is Cordray and he's trouble ... a guy that is real trouble."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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