In his latest rant during an hour-long speech in Connecticut, Donald Trump lashed out he would be leading Hillary Clinton by 20% if "the disgusting and corrupt media covered me honestly and didn't put false meaning into the words I say." Threatening to revoke The New York Times' press credentials (just as he did The Washington Post), Trump - somewhat understandably exclaimed "these are the most dishonest people," pointing to the press corps.

Speaking in Connecticut, a heavily Democratic state where he has a long-shot of being victorious, even Republican strategists questioning his decision-making...

"It's asinine that he would be in Connecticut holding a public rally less than 90 days before the election," said Republican strategist Matt Mackowiak. "You don't see Hillary publicly campaigning in Idaho and Mississippi. I have to think this proves the candidate is running the campaign, which explains why it's such a disaster of biblical proportions."

My rallies are not covered properly by the media. They never discuss the real message and never show crowd size or enthusiasm. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 14, 2016

But after continuing his awkward-for-the-mainstream finger pointing over the founding of ISIS (which as Scott Adams notes, could be a stroke of genius)...

1. The mainstream media knows they are smarter than Donald Trump. They see evidence of this truth all the time, although much of that evidence is confirmation bias. Then… 2. Trump does something smart – accusing Obama and Clinton of being “founders” of ISIS. This is a clever way to get the world to debate Clinton and Obama’s ineffectiveness during a time when ISIS expanded. In other words, it is brilliant media manipulation, and it worked. 3. CNN and other Clinton supporters interpret Trump’s statement about ISIS as absurd and uninformed because they can’t imagine a scenario in which Trump does something brilliant. Trump being brilliant isn’t one of the options, as far as they know. The reality of Trump’s clever persuasion is crystal-clear to anyone who thinks Trump is smart. Trump was clearly joking about the “founder” part to get people squawking, and it worked. Total success. Brilliant technique. Now the media has a big problem. They can’t admit that they were extraordinarily dumb in this situation and Trump was brilliant. That reality is invisible to them because it doesn’t fit their worldview. So…cognitive dissonance happens. This is a textbook set-up for cognitive dissonance. The facts we observe (Trump is smart, the media is gullible) is opposite of the media’s worldview in which they are smart and Trump is uninformed. So what do they do? They act as if Trump is the dumb one in this situation. Because that fits their worldview. And…they…fact-check his claim. Read more here...

Trump turns his rage towards the media... (as Reuters reports)

He again threatened to revoke the press credentials of The New York Times. The credentials allow reporters access to press-only areas of his campaign events. He has already banned other outlets, including The Washington Post.



On Saturday, the New York newspaper published an article detailing failed efforts to make Trump focus his campaign on the general election. "These are the most dishonest people," Trump said. "Maybe we'll start thinking about taking their press credentials away from them."

Then Trump took to Twitter to continue to attack The New York Times' claims that he is ignoring advisers' pleas amid falling poll numbers...

In a story titled “Inside the Failing Mission to Tame Trump’s Tongue,” advisers told the Times that Trump’s mood in private is often sullen and erratic. “He veers from barking at members of his staff to grumbling about how he was better off following his own instincts during the primaries and suggesting he should not have heeded their calls for change,” the story says, adding that the billionaire “broods about his souring relationship with the news media.”

In a series of tweets, Trump called the report "fiction..."

The failing @nytimes talks about anonymous sources and meetings that never happened. Their reporting is fiction. The media protects Hillary! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 14, 2016

The failing @nytimes, which never spoke to me, keeps saying that I am saying to advisers that I will change. False, I am who I am-never said — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 14, 2016

Ironically, Trump's poll numbers have ticked up a little in recent days after the recent plunge...