Trump vows to weaken US media power

Donald Trump has lashed out at US media companies, saying they are biased against him and he'll break up their power structures if he's elected president.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump delivers a speech during a campaign event. Source: AAP

US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has promised to foil a proposed deal for AT&T Inc to buy Time Warner Inc if he wins the November 8 election, arguing it's an example of a "power structure" rigged against him and voters.

Trump on Saturday listed his policy plans for the first 100 days of his presidency in a campaign speech in historic Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, but also defiantly raised personal grievances, describing how he would address them from the White House.

Moments after promising Americans that he represented a break from the status quo, he promised to sue a number of women who have come forward to accuse him of sexual assault, calling them liars.

And he added a new threat to his repeated criticisms of US media companies, which he says cover his campaign unfairly to help Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

"They're trying desperately to suppress my vote and the voice of the American people," he told supporters in his speech.

"As an example of the power structure I'm fighting, AT&T is buying Time Warner and thus CNN, a deal we will not approve in my administration because it's too much concentration of power in the hands of too few," Trump said.

He also said he would look at "breaking" up Comcast's acquisition of NBC Universal in 2013.

"Deals like this destroy democracy," he said.

Although Trump, a wealthy New York businessman, described these plans at least in part as a response to his belief such organisations had treated him unfairly, he argued that less wealthy voters had even greater cause to worry.

"When a simple phone call placed with the biggest newspapers or television networks gets them wall to wall coverage with virtually no fact-checking whatsoever, here is why this is relevant to you," he said.

"If they can fight somebody like me who has unlimited resources to fight back, just look at what they could do to you, your jobs, your security, your education, your health care."

Trump is trailing Clinton in most polls - although he has narrowed the gap according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Friday. Clinton maintained her commanding lead in the race to win the Electoral College, however, and claim the US presidency, a Reuters/Ipsos States of the Nation project poll released on Saturday showed.


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3 min read
Published 23 October 2016 8:48am
Source: AAP


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