Trump calls CNN’s sources on COVID-19 task force ‘pure fiction’

Trump tweeted out: "@CNN has no sources on the Task Force. Their 'sources' are made up, pure fiction! Jim Acosta is a Fake reporter!"

The CNN communications team immediately replied, tweeting: "False. @Acosta is a Real reporter with Real sources who talks to members of your Task Force much more often than you do."

It appears that Trump was responding to a couple tweets sent out Wednesday morning by Acosta, who communicated that his sources from the coronavirus Task Force were not sure that Trump had a firm grasp on the seriousness of the pandemic.

Acosta tweeted: "A source familiar with Trump’s Tuesday Oval Office meeting with his coronavirus task force said the president is still not demonstrating that he has a firm grasp of the severity of the pandemic in the US. 'He still doesn’t get it,' the source said. 'He does not get it.'"

Acosta followed his first tweet up with a second, adding: "As some members of the task force tried to stress the dire nature of the situation to the president during the meeting, the source said Trump repeatedly attempted to change the subject. 'He starts talking about something else,' the source said."

Trump's tweet to CNN came as part of a flurry of tweets on Wednesday, addressing mail-in voting in Nevada and Sally Yates—someone who is set to testify before the Senate in regards to the Russia investigation.

Trump tweeted about mail-in voting in Nevada: "Nevada has ZERO infrastructure for Mail-In Voting. It will be a corrupt disaster if not ended by the Courts. It will take months, or years, to figure out. Florida has built a great infrastructure, over years, with two great Republican Governors. Florida, send in your Ballots!"

The Heritage Foundation published a piece on mail-in voting on Monday, saying: "Mail-in ballots are the ballots most vulnerable to being altered, stolen, or forged. Just look at the current investigation going on in Paterson, New Jersey, over a recent municipal election conducted entirely by mail.

"Four Paterson residents have already been charged with criminal election fraud, including a councilman and councilman-elect. Evidence is surfacing of everything from voters reporting that they never received their absentee ballots (even though they are recorded as having voted) to accusations that one of the campaigns may have submitted fraudulent ballots.

"Mail-in ballots also have a higher rejection rate than votes cast in person. In the Paterson case, election officials apparently rejected 1 in 5 ballots for everything from signatures on the ballots not matching the signatures of voters on file, to ballots not complying with the technical rules that apply to absentee ballots."

Needless to say, Trump's concern over mail-in fraud is not unfounded.

Trump also went after Sally Yates Wednesday morning tweeting: "Sally Yates has zero credibility. She was a part of the greatest political crime of the Century, and ObamaBiden knew EVERYTHING! Sally Yates leaked the General Flynn conversation? Ask her under oath. Republicans should start playing the Democrats game!"