Is the Mainstream Media Finally Waking Up?

Donald Trump has been teasing a “major announcement” since Thursday. His campaign issued a statement ThursdayÂ night making clear his “announcement” would be stating President Obama is an America citizen, five years after coming to national attention as the leader of the birther movement.Â

Trump held hisÂ “major announcement” at his brand new Washington, D.C. hotel. It was the hotel’s first public event, its christening, and a stain that will forever live in that building.

So what happened?

For 28 minutes and 27 seconds, all three major news networks, MSNBC, CNN, Fox News, plus CBS News online, and possibly others, ran, almost entirely uninterrupted, speaker after speaker after speaker â€“Â all military veterans â€“Â announcing their support for Donald Trump. That was followed by Donald Trump taking to the podium for 33 seconds, and making this statement:

“Hillary Clinton and her campaign of 2008 started the birtherÂ controversy. I finished it. President Barack Obama was born in the United States. Period.”

The first two sentences are lies. The third are facts that should never have been open for discussion.Â

The mainstream media was played. Big time, and they know it.

And they’re mad.

Trump used them for a 29 minute ad for both his hotel and his campaign.

What did the pool reporters do?

A source says Trump broadcast pool just erased tape of his tour of the hotel in protest of bait-and-switch w no editorial access. â€” Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) September 16, 2016

That’s not all.

CNN anchor called the spectacle a “political Rickroll.” A Rickroll is a bait-and-switch.

â€œItâ€™s hard to imagine this as anything other than a political Rickroll,â€ Tapper told his audience.Â â€œWe were told that this was going to be Donald Trump addressing something that his top campaign advisers, many people in the Republican National Committee want him to address, and clear up, and then stop talking about.â€

Tapper said Trump has beenÂ â€œtraffickingâ€ in a â€œdiscredited lieâ€ for “more than half a decade.â€

â€œIt was very clever on one level,â€ Tapper added. â€œOn another level, it does speak to the integrity of the Trump campaign.â€

Calling it a “dog-and-pony show,” CBS News’ Major Garrett said it was “all staged to bring more attention to this brand new hotel.”

“This was a dog and pony show for the Trump hotel,” says @MajorCBS on Trump’s announcement https://t.co/ppNBqBQML9 pic.twitter.com/nKO3eBGEB1 â€” CBS News (@CBSNews) September 16, 2016

With 53 days to go, not a smart move to anger the press.

RELATED STORIES:

Trump Campaign Issues Inane Press Release: Trump Believes Obama ‘Was Born in the United States’

7 of Donald Trump’s Own Tweets and Comments Prove He Is Trying to Rewrite His Nasty Birther History

WATCH: Bernie Sanders Slams Trump’s New Birther Revelation: ‘This Is Pathetic’

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