One thing about the 2016 presidential race is undeniable: Donald Trump has lied or misled at an unprecedented level. Over 70 percent of his statements, according to Politifact, are “mostly false,” “false” or “pants on fire false.” (Hillary Clinton is at 26 percent.)

His latest whopper—that the election is being rigged by a dishonest media and through ballot fraud—fed the news cycle for an entire week.

But while Trump scapegoats the media, he has served them well—at least, financially. Cable news organizations are expected to break records with US$2.5 billion in profits this election and spending on digital ads will reach $1 billion for the first time in a presidential campaign. NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik recently reported that CNN has earned roughly $100 million more than they’d anticipated during this election cycle—largely due to Trump.

News: I'm told by two sources that CNN earned approx $100M above expected election year lift in TV & digital thanks to Trump fascination — David Folkenflik (@davidfolkenflik) October 24, 2016

With Trump’s poll numbers cratering over the past month, conservative media figures like Bill Kristol have tried to keep the top of the ticket from bringing down the GOP brand, calling Trump a “fluke” candidate and trying to shift the blame to the media for fomenting his rise—and nauseating lies—with billions of dollars in free coverage.

As a media scholar who has followed Trump’s “reality show” campaign and its impact on TV ratings and democracy, I would say there is, indeed, plenty of reason to blame the media players who have shrugged all the way to the bank.