President Donald Trump attorney Jenna Ellis on Thursday slammed the national media during a bombastic news conference Thursday, accusing reporters of failing to serve as “unbiased jurors” in the court of public opinion and telling them that their personal views are irrelevant.
The Trump campaign held a frenzied press conference in Washington to provide an update on ongoing legal challenges related to the presidential election.
The team, led by Rudy Giuliani, pushed baseless conspiracy theories about voter fraud and predicted that Trump will be declared the winner in Pennsylvania and Michigan despite Joe Biden already being declared the winner of both states.
After Giuliani spoke, Ellis stepped to the podium and started by scolding a reporter who shouted a question directed at Giuliani and Sidney Powell, who had just finished giving lengthy remarks.
“Excuse me, we’re not up to the questions at this point… we’re not at the questions at this point,” Ellis told the reporter before launching into a tirade about the media.
“What you have heard, I’m sure, in the fake newspapers tomorrow will be one of two things. Either there was not sufficient evidence that we presented, or we spoke too long,” Ellis said. “What you’ve heard now is basically an opening statement. This is what you can expect to see when we get to court to actually have a full trial on the merit, to actually show this evidence in court and prove our case. This is not a ‘Law & Order’ episode where everything is neatly wrapped up in 60 minutes.”
Ellis then said reporters who have “tuned out” widespread claims of voter fraud “clearly” never were court reporters because it takes time to present evidence properly.
“This is basically an opening statement so the American people can understand what the networks have been hiding and what they refuse to cover, because all of our fake news headlines are dancing around the merits of this case and are trying to delegitimize what we are doing here,” Ellis said. “Let me be very clear that our objective is to make sure to preserve and protect election integrity.”
“If your fake news network is not covering this or allowing you to cover it fairly and accurately, you should ask yourself why. This is absolutely a legitimate, legal basis,” she continued.
“I would be allowed to, because of the fake news coverage you provide. You are not unbiased jurors and until you step out of your role as a journalist and actually go into a courtroom and you are a judge on a bench, that has sworn an oath to be unbiased in our separation of powers, then your opinion doesn’t matter,” Ellis said.
She then accused reporters of covering only “around the margins” and speculated about how the press would frame Thursday’s news conference.
“I’ve seen all of you taking pictures right now and I can anticipate what your headlines are going to be. If you are not willing to talk about the evidence that has been presented, then that is absolutely unacceptable for journalistic standards,” Ellis said. “The American people deserve to know what we have uncovered.”
“You, the press, should cover this fairly and should know that this matters to election integrity and it matters to the future of our nation,” she said.
Watch:
Trump senior legal adviser Jenna Ellis: "I have seen all of you taking pictures right now and I can anticipate what your headlines are going to be." pic.twitter.com/Ei4oxgnGUi
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) November 19, 2020
