UPE 2018

Trump defends his use of social media in a series of tweets

US President Donald Trump has defended his use of social media in a series of tweets, following a row over comments he made about two MSNBC TV presenters.

"My use of social media is not presidential – it's modern day presidential," he tweeted on Saturday.

His tweets are condemned by Democrats and Republicans alike, despite the White House springing to his defence.

Mr Trump's aides have previously expressed concern over his tweets.

But the president said on Saturday that social media gave him the opportunity to connect directly to the public, bypassing the mainstream media, whose content Mr Trump regularly labels as "fake news".

"The FAKE & FRAUDULENT NEWS MEDIA is working hard to convince Republicans and others I should not use social media," he tweeted, adding: "But remember, I won the 2016 election with interviews, speeches and social media."

Mr Trump also stepped up his attack on CNN after the US news network retracted an article alleging that one of the president's aides was under investigation by Congress.

"I am extremely pleased to see that @CNN has finally been exposed as #FakeNews and garbage journalism. It's about time!"

The story that caused the upset, which was later removed from the website following an internal investigation, resulted in the resignations of three CNN journalists: Thomas Frank, investigative unit editor and Pulitzer Prize winner Eric Lictblau and Lex Harris, who oversaw the investigations unit.

Disponível em: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40471536.

Complete the gap according to the text.

Trump __________ uses the social media.