Donald Trump made it very clear this weekend that he is not a fan of the New York Times.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee took to Twitter to blast a recent Times story that focused on the billionaire businessman’s private relationships with women. The piece, written by Michael Barbaro and Megan Twohey, took into account more than 50 interviews that were conducted over a six-week period with women who dated Trump and worked for and with Trump, as well as men and women who knew him over the years.
Notably, the Times (NYT) piece said that Trump elevated women to high-ranking positions within his company—but also that he made crude comments about their appearance over the years.
Trump wasn’t happy with those characterizations. Here are some of the tweets he fired off in response:
The failing @nytimes wrote yet another hit piece on me. All are impressed with how nicely I have treated women, they found nothing. A joke!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 15, 2016
Everyone is laughing at the @nytimes for the lame hit piece they did on me and women.I gave them many names of women I helped-refused to use
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 15, 2016
Why doesn't the failing @nytimes write the real story on the Clintons and women? The media is TOTALLY dishonest!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 15, 2016
Barbaro, a co-author of the story, disputed the claim that the Times didn’t speak to women that Trump proposed talking to for the story—saying they did interview and quote women that Trump’s office suggested. Coins2Day has reached out to the Times for comment about Trump’s complaints and will update this story if it issues a response.
A woman that was mentioned prominently in the story, Rowanne Brewer Lane, also complained about the coverage. The former model said that the reporters “put a negative connotation” on what she said. Trump incorrectly spelled her first name it two separate tweets—calling her “Rosanne” and “Roseanne.”
The narrative around Trump’s relationship with women is important to the candidate, especially considering his poor favorability with female voters. A CNN/ORC poll in March found that 73% of women who’d registered to vote viewed Trump unfavorably. Women have exceeded male voters in every presidential election since 1964, so they are an important group to sway come November.
The Times wasn’t the only major publication to land in Trump’s crosshairs over the weekend. He also complained about a recent Washington Post story that reported on potential vice presidential candidates who were being considered by his team. Trump said that Marco Rubio and “most others mentioned are NOT under consideration.”
