Former State Department spokesman John Kirby lauded CNN's reporting on Sunday, praise that followed President Trump's tweet featuring a modified video showing him body-slamming "CNN" in a wrestling match.

"Spent my career on flak side of the notebook," Kirby tweeted of his role in public relations.

"Proud to be on @CNN team, where every day I see rigor & ethics applied to dogged journalism," he continued.

Spent my career on flak side of the notebook. Proud to be on @CNN team, where every day I see rigor & ethics applied to dogged journalism. https://t.co/GoNjpaAM9U — John Kirby (@johnfkirby63) July 2, 2017

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Kirby served in former President Obama's administration. He is now a CNN contributor.

Kirby's tweet comes after Trump's tweet earlier Sunday including video that appears to show Trump attacking and subduing a figure whose face is obscured by a CNN logo.

The tweet continued to escalate the ongoing war of rhetoric between Trump and the network. Trump often targets CNN for its reporting, recently tweeting he was thinking about changing the name "FakeNews CNN to FraudNewsCNN."

CNN responded to the president's tweet Sunday, calling it a "sad day" when the president "encourages violence against reporters."

"Instead of preparing for his overseas trip, his first meeting with Vladimir Putin, dealing with North Korea and working on his health care bill, he is instead involved in juvenile behavior far below the dignity of his office," CNN said in its statement.

"We will keep doing our jobs. He should start doing his," the network said.