Actor and producer Rob Reiner has news for President Trump: He’s the first commander in chief to be supported by the “mainstream media.”

The man who starred as “Meathead” in the television series “All in the Family” says Mr. Trump is shielded from criticism by the mainstream media. He made the claim while talking politics Friday with the ladies of ABC’s “The View.”

“This is the first time also in American history where we have had a president — every president uses propaganda to sell a policy — Republicans and Democrats,” Mr Reiner said. “But this is the first time we have had a president that is supported by mainstream media. I mean, Fox is mainstream media. Between that and Breitbart and Sinclair and Alex Jones there are 40 percent of the country getting their news only there.”

The Hollywood celebrity was not challenged on his loose definition of “mainstream,” although he did admit that many Americans also gravitate to liberal networks like MSNBC.

Mr. Reiner, who was on to promote his new film “Shock and Awe,” added that outlets like HuffPost were wrong to treat Mr. Trump like a joke during his campaign.

“I think the press let us down because I don’t they thought he could get the nomination, I don’t think they thought he could win. So they played it kind of funny. Even Huffington Post put it on the comedy page initially.”

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