--- title: Donald Trump Lays the Blame description: After several bad weeks, Donald Trump lashed out at the press in a series of tweets. Joe Biden campaigns for Hillary Clinton in Scranton. canonical: https://time.com/4452130/donald-trump-lays-the-blame/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-15T15:08:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T23:58:40.946Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Lays the Blame og:description: After several bad weeks, Donald Trump lashed out at the press in a series of tweets. Joe Biden campaigns for Hillary Clinton in Scranton. og:url: https://time.com/4452130/donald-trump-lays-the-blame/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Morning Must Reads og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Lays the Blame twitter:description: After several bad weeks, Donald Trump lashed out at the press in a series of tweets. Joe Biden campaigns for Hillary Clinton in Scranton. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Lays the Blame by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Aug 15, 2016 3:08 PM UTC  The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC.Mark Wilson—Getty Images by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Aug 15, 2016 3:08 PM UTC **Correction Appended August 15, 2016** **_If you only read one thing:_** _After a miserable three weeks for his campaign, Donald Trump lashed out at the press Sunday in a series of tweets blaming perceived media bias for his struggles in the polls. In one instance, Trump claimed he’d be leading Hillary Clinton by 20 points if “if the disgusting and corrupt media covered me honestly and didn’t put false meaning into the words I say.” Meanwhile, senior aides did the round of Sunday morning shows to drive home the theme. Trump’s blame-the-press tactic is hardly new, especially for him, but it marks his latest attempt to delegitimize public institutions, who in this case, have committed the deadly sin of directly quoting him. As Trump searches for easy targets to offload the blame for his foundering campaign, the true responsibility lies squarely with the candidate, who has stepped on his own message time and again._ Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort is facing renewed scrutiny over his work for pro-Russian former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, who was pushed from power in February 2014\. A New York Times report alleges that handwritten ledgers found in Ukraine detail millions in cash payoffs said to have been delivered to Manafort, whose ties to the corrupt former leader remain murky. In a statement Monday, Manafort denied the latest allegations, but the controversy stands to be a sideshow to Trump’s foreign policy speech Monday. Trump is expected to announce a revision of his controversial Muslim ban, replacing it instead with an ideological test for entry to the U.S., while rejecting the Bush administration’s foreign policy. Hillary Clinton is campaigning in Scranton, Pa. with Vice President Joe Biden Monday, as she seeks to shore up support in the white, working-class, part of the key swing state. Obama releases a summer playlist. Young voters flee Trump. And how ScamPACs killed the tea party. _Here are your must reads:_ **Must Reads** [Secret Ledger in Ukraine Lists Cash for Donald Trump’s Campaign Chief](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/15/us/politics/paul-manafort-ukraine-donald-trump.html?%5Fr=0) Trump campaign boss under renewed scrutiny for ties to Putin ally \[New York Times\] [Donald Trump says media is out to get him](http://money.cnn.com/2016/08/14/media/donald-trump-media-bias-first-amendment/index.html?sr=twmoney081416donald-trump-media-bias-first-amendment1037PMVODtopLink&linkId=27659099) Facing a pivotal moment in his campaign, Trump blames the press \[CNN\] [Trump Campaign Looks to Evangelicals to Mobilize Hispanic Outreach](http://time.com/4450564/donald-trump-latino-hispanic-evangelicals/) With 85 days remaining, the campaign organizes an advisory board, TIME’s Elizabeth Dias reports [Donald Trump Ohio speech preview: ‘Foreign policy realism’ to replace nation building](http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/2016/08/15/donald-trump-ohio-speech-preview-foreign-policy-realism-replace-nation-building/88751986/) Trump to reject Bush doctrine and revise Muslim ban \[Associated Press\] **Sound Off** “It is not “freedom of the press” when newspapers and others are allowed to say and write whatever they want even if it is completely false!” —Donald Trump in a tweet Sunday. “How dare we cover what he says” —CNN’s Jake Tapper to Trump surrogate and former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer’s complaints about the press **Bits and Bites** [Young voters flee Donald Trump in what may be historic trouncing, poll shows](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/08/14/donald-trump-historic-trouncing-among-younger-voters-hillary-clinton-president-poll/88666746/) \[USA Today\] [President Obama’s Emotional Spotify Playlist Is a Hit](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/15/us/politics/president-obama-spotify-playlist.html?%5Fr=0) \[New York Times\] [The Bidens bump into the Bushes in the Hamptons](http://pagesix.com/2016/08/14/the-bidens-bump-into-the-bushes-in-the-hamptons/) \[New York Post\] [How Donald Trump Brought House Conservatives to Heel](http://www.nationalreview.com/article/438984/donald-trump-house-conservatives-conquest-explained) \[National Review\] [Manafort blasts NYT, denies he accepted Ukraine cash payments](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/paul-manafort-ukraine-payment-new-york-times-227004#ixzz4HOoM5iUd) \[Politico\] [How We Killed the Tea Party](http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/08/tea-party-pacs-ideas-death-214164?cmpid=sf) \[Politico\] [Here’s How Much Hillary Clinton Paid in Taxes Last Year](http://time.com/4450506/hillary-clinton-tax-returns-2015/) \[Fortune\] **Correction**: The original version of this post misstated the nickname for the period of time that lead to the removal from power of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4452130/donald-trump-lays-the-blame/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4452130/donald-trump-lays-the-blame/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Lays the Blame","datePublished":"2016-08-15T15:08:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:58:40.946Z","description":"Morning Must Reads: August 15","url":"https://time.com/4452130/donald-trump-lays-the-blame/","keywords":["Morning Must Reads"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Morning Must Reads","caption":"Capitol","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4452130/donald-trump-lays-the-blame/","name":"Donald Trump Lays the Blame"}}]}] ```