Donald Trump started the week by tweeting an attack that his rabid base will love, criticizing the “Fake News & totally dishonest media” for ostensibly ignoring all the “success that our Country is having.” (Remember our government is closed, and has been for over two weeks.)

He continued by claiming that “Fake News will knowingly lie and demean” his administration’s success resolving with “this is a sad day in America!”

Trump began by tweeting:

With all of the success that our Country is having, including the just released jobs numbers which are off the charts, the Fake News & totally dishonest Media concerning me and my presidency has never been worse. Many have become crazed lunatics who have given up on the TRUTH!…

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2019

Then followed up with:

…The Fake News will knowingly lie and demean in order make the tremendous success of the Trump Administration, and me, look as bad as possible. They use non-existent sources & write stories that are total fiction. Our Country is doing so well, yet this is a sad day in America!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2019

And yet another!

….The Fake News Media in our Country is the real Opposition Party. It is truly the Enemy of the People! We must bring honesty back to journalism and reporting!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2019

Trump seems to be angry that the press didn’t cover a recent and glowing jobs report to the degree that he would prefer. In a vacuum of news, this would certainly get more attention than it has, but the nation is currently in day 17 of a government shutdown over a significant political impasse over Trump’s desire for Congressional funding over a border wall.

Trump critics often see his criticism as a psychological projection which is a defense mechanism in which the human ego denies the existence of negative qualities while attributing them to others. Or, in more layman’s terms, the “best defense is a good offense” approach to political rhetoric.

Twitter quickly called Trump out:

Trump: "Our country is doing so well!"

Reality: Our government is shut down. That means limited TSA, unpaid air-traffic control workers, 800K people without paychecks.

All over a fear of immigrants that makes MAGA poop their pants like an eighteenth-century Hogwarts student.
????

— Santa Claus, CEO (@SantaInc) January 7, 2019

It must feel like the walls are closing in Mr President.

— Mike Holden (@MikeHolden42) January 7, 2019

Out country is in a disaster. The govt. is shut down, thousands out of work. Trade wars are putting farmers out of business. Debt soaring b/c of tax cut for rich. President is making money off his own policies, obstructing justice, colluding w/foreign power. And so much more.

— Michelangelo Signorile (@MSignorile) January 7, 2019

Your delusional. You can create all the smoke and mirrors you want, you're still going to jail. #TickTock https://t.co/CbNdgGdavt

— ✴Wendy T✴ (@wendy_talmage) January 7, 2019

News alert: delusional traitor lies and demeans in order to hold on to power, regardless of the consequences… https://t.co/6X3Uhx14Ei

— Empathetic Earthizen aka Crossfire Hurricane (@JPCKC) January 7, 2019

They literally only report the things you do and say. You're embarrassing yourself. https://t.co/dDLbRJDvYK

— Machine Pun Kelly (@KellyScaletta) January 7, 2019

Projection “is a defense mechanism in which the human ego defends itself against unconscious impulses by denying their existence in themselves while attributing them to others.” pic.twitter.com/zoXbpcom7g

— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) January 7, 2019