The White House says Trump's CNN wrestling gif wasn't a threat. CNN disagrees.

(Image credit: Mandel Ngan/Getty Images)

published 2 July 2017

Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert on Sunday defended President Trump's tweet depicting himself physically beating "CNN." Trump is "the most genuine president and the most non-politician president we've seen in my lifetime," Bossert said in an appearance on ABC News, and "no one would perceive [the tweet] as a threat. I hope they don't. I do think that [Trump is] beaten up in a way on cable platforms that he has a right to respond to."

CNN did not share Bossert's take. The network's response said the tweet "encourages violence against reporters":

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.