In a rare move, former President and GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump praised CNN on Sunday, September 8, for their coverage of Democratic nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris’ shifting stance on the border wall. Trump, who has frequently criticized CNN as “fake news,” shared a clip of the network highlighting Harris’ apparent change in position regarding the border wall, which Trump made a key issue during his presidency.
The CNN segment, hosted by anchor Erin Burnett, discussed a K-File report led by Andrew Kaczynski, which examined Harris’ previous statements against Trump’s border wall. Burnett explained, “The K-File team scanned Kamala Harris’ tweets and statements all the way back to 2017. And what they found was more than 50 instances of Harris slamming Trump’s border wall.”
One notable instance highlighted in the segment came from Harris’ 2019 book, The Truths We Hold, where she wrote, “But there was a bigger reason to oppose the border wall. A useless wall on the southern border would be nothing more than a symbol, a monument standing in opposition to not just everything I value, but to the fundamental values upon which this country was built…”
However, the report pointed out that Harris’ recent campaign ads now promote her experience as a border-state prosecutor, showcasing her tough stance on border security and using imagery of the border wall in the process. One of her campaign ads emphasizes, “Kamala Harris has spent decades fighting violent crime. As a border-state prosecutor, she took on drug cartels and jailed gang members for smuggling weapons and drugs across the border.”
Trump, sharing a clip of Sky News covering the CNN report, praised the coverage. “Thank you to Erin Burnett and CNN. Even they say Comrade Kamala Harris is a Phony!” Trump wrote in a social media post, according to Mediaite.
The former president’s praise for CNN quickly drew attention on social media, with many commenters expressing disbelief at the sudden shift in tone. “Wasn’t CNN ‘fake news’? Are the MAGA morons really this stupid? Oh right, it’s only fake news when you don’t like it,” one user quipped. Another added, “It is telling that the right-wing hate CNN until they post something the right wing can agree with.”
Others pointed out Trump’s own history of inconsistency. “Trump flip flops sometimes even in one sentence, he’s flip-flopped on many major issues,” one individual remarked.
Trump’s unexpected approval of CNN’s coverage underscores the unpredictable nature of his interactions with the media, leaving many to wonder whether this rare praise signals a new trend or simply another instance of selective agreement.