President Trump castigated the media for its coverage of the coronavirus crisis.

The commander in chief also touted the ratings of his near-daily appearances at White House Coronavirus Task Force briefings.

"The Lamestream Media wants us to fail. That will NEVER happen!" Trump said in one tweet on Sunday.

"Polls are showing tremendous disapproval of Lamestream Media coverage of the Virus crisis. The Fake News just hasn’t figured that out yet!" he said in another.

In a third tweet, the president, who is a businessman and former reality TV star, heralded the ratings for the coronavirus task force briefings, noting they are akin to those of a popular reality TV show or prime-time NFL game.

"Because the 'Ratings' of my News Conferences etc. are so high, 'Bachelor finale, Monday Night Football type numbers' according to the @nytimes, the Lamestream Media is going CRAZY. 'Trump is reaching too many people, we must stop him.' said one lunatic. See you at 5:00 P.M.!" he said.

Because the “Ratings” of my News Conferences etc. are so high, “Bachelor finale, Monday Night Football type numbers” according to the @nytimes, the Lamestream Media is going CRAZY. “Trump is reaching too many people, we must stop him.” said one lunatic. See you at 5:00 P.M.! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 29, 2020

The recent finale of season 24 of ABC's The Bachelor drew in just under 8.5 million viewers, a four-year high. According to Nielsen numbers, the White House Coronavirus Task Force briefings being shown on cable news channels are receiving a comparable average.

The identity of the "lunatic" mentioned in the tweet was not immediately clear, but journalists immediately began trying to track it down.

If anyone can point me to a source for the “Trump is reaching too many people, we must stop him” quote, I would appreciate it. pic.twitter.com/XqfXonz6zB — Daniel Dale (@ddale8) March 29, 2020

Maggie Haberman, the White House correspondent for the New York Times, reacted to the third tweet with one of her own.

"The media is covering depressing metrics of this crisis - deaths, illness, jobs lost, businesses and families impacted. The president is keeping a close eye on how he is being received says he's getting 'Bachelor finale' type ratings," she said.

Despite criticism for his administration's handling of the coronavirus crisis, Trump's approval ratings have risen in the months ahead of his reelection contest.

Trump's talk of ratings comes as the number of confirmed COVID-19 virus cases has risen to above 125,000, and total deaths associated with the virus jumped to more than 2,350.