“If the press would cover me accurately & honorably, I would have far less reason to ‘tweet,’” Donald Trump wrote. | AP Photo Trump blames unfair media for driving him to tweet

In his 34,100th-plus tweet, President-elect Donald Trump on Monday suggested he would have reason to curtail his prolific Twitter use if the media covered him “accurately & honorably.”

Since his historic election nearly a month ago, Trump — who joined Twitter in March 2009 — has blamed the media for allegedly inciting “professional protesters,” attacked The New York Times and CNN, slammed “Saturday Night Live” and demanded an apology from the cast of “Hamilton.”


He has teased Cabinet announcements, boasted of his one-time critics’ congratulatory calls and best wishes, bragged about winning and claimed he would have still won if the election were based on popular vote from the beginning.

He highlighted a Trump University lawsuit settlement as the only negative thing about becoming president and took credit for saving 1,100 jobs at a Carrier plant in Indiana.

He also called Green Party nominee Jill Stein’s recount effort a scam, said without evidence that he actually won the popular vote (he trails by more than 2.5 million) “if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally” and alleged without evidence that there was “serious fraud” in Virginia, New Hampshire and California.

And he suggested flag-burners be punished, attempted to set the record straight on his unprecedented call with Taiwan’s leader, took a hard line with China, pledged to penalize companies that outsource and announced a news conference set for mid-December — his first since July 27.

“If the press would cover me accurately & honorably, I would have far less reason to ‘tweet,’” Trump wrote in a Twitter post Monday morning, apparently blaming the media for his inclination to tweet his unfiltered thoughts rather than communicating through more traditional means like statements via press releases and interviews.

“Sadly,” Trump added, “I don't know if that will ever happen!”



Trump’s allies defended the president-elect’s continued Twitter use Sunday. Asked by CNN’s Jake Tapper if Trump’s tweets about fraudulent votes was “presidential,” Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conway argued yes.

“Well, he’s the president-elect. So, that’s — that’s presidential behavior, yes,” she said. When pressed further, she broached a familiar target: the Clintons.

“Shall we — shall we review for those who weren’t born then what President Clinton did in the Oval Office?” Conway asked.

Conway, a Republican pollster who successfully managed the final iteration of Trump’s campaign, said the president-elect, Secret Service and others will determine whether he continues using his @realdonaldtrump Twitter account after he’s sworn in as president.

“I will tell you that president-elect looks at his social media accounts, a combined 25 million — or probably more at this point — users on Twitter, on Facebook as a very good platform for which to convey his messages,” she explained. “I can tell you firsthand that there are posts that he makes that otherwise would not be heard or seen by those 25 million people but for him posting it. But he's a unique person who's been following his instincts and his judgment from the beginning.”

Despite no evidence of widespread voter fraud, Vice President-elect Mike Pence said Trump has a “right to express his opinion as president-elect of the United States.”

“I think one of the things that’s refreshing about our president-elect and one of the reasons why I think he made such an incredible connection with people all across this country is because he tells you what’s on his mind,” he told George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s “This Week.”

Asked why it’s refreshing to make false statements, Pence claimed he doesn’t know that Trump’s tweet is false and reverted back to his argument that Trump is “entitled to express his opinion on that.”

“He’s going to say what he believes to be true and I know that he’s always going to speak in that way as president,” Pence said.

Incoming White House chief of staff Reince Priebus used a similar line of defense during his interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” telling host John Dickerson he doesn’t know whether Trump’s tweet is untrue.

“I think the president elect is someone who has pushed the envelope and caused people to think in this country. He’s not taking conventional thought — on every single issue and has caused people to look at things that maybe they have taken for granted, you look at the flag burning issue last week,” he said, pointing to Trump’s tweet suggesting punishment for people who burn the American flag.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney warned Trump to “be careful” with his tweets.

“I think one of the reasons people get so concerned about the tweets is it’s sort of a way around the press,” he told CNN’s Barbara Starr at a Reagan National Defense Forum on Sunday, pausing for laughter before telling Starr. “He doesn’t have to rely upon — it’s modern era, modern technology. He’s at the point where we don’t need you guys anymore.”