President Donald Trump toyed again with the media Sunday morning, tweeting out a spoof video showing him pounding CNN at a pro wrestling match. The backlash was as immediate as it was predictable.

The footage is taken from a 2007 WWF event where Trump bet WWF boss Vince McMahon in a “battle of the billionaires.” At one point, Trump pretends to grab McMahon, body slam him to the ground and repeatedly punch him. In today’s tweet, the CNN logo is superimposed on McMahon’s face. The video is accompanied by the hashtags #FraudNewsCNN #FNN.

#FraudNewsCNN #FNN pic.twitter.com/WYUnHjjUjg

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 2, 2017

Though the original was staged entertainment, phony — fake — the media was quick to dub today’s tweet as a call to violence against journalists. Leading the way, CNN itself in a response to The Hill. (Curiously, CNN also decided to attack Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders as a liar.)

It is a sad day when the president of the United States encourages violence against reporters. Clearly, Sarah Huckabee Sanders lied when she said the president had never done so. Instead of preparing for his overseas trip, his first meeting with Vladimir Putin, dealing with North Korea and working on his healthcare bill, he is instead involved in juvenile behavior far below the dignity of his office. We will keep doing our jobs. He should start doing his.

A top White House aide dismissed the allegation the video spoof is a call to violence.

“I think that no one would perceive that as a threat,” homeland security adviser Tom Bossert said. “I hope they don’t. But I do think that he’s beaten up in a way on cable platforms that he has a right to respond to.”

Today’s tweet is only the latest in a battle between the President and CNN. His weekend tweetstorm also saw him calling CNN “garbage journalism.” This comes after a week in which CNN had to dump three reporters after a bogus Trump-related story. The president’s case was further strengthened when CNN personality Van Jones was caught in a video sting admitting CNN’s Trump-Russia story was a “nothing burger” and a producer admitted the story has no evidence and is only being covered for the ratings.

Meanwhile, another producer declared that voters are “dumb as s***.” 

Trump set off a firestorm last week when he struck back at the MSNBC Morning Joe co-hosts who daily mock and insult the President and his family.

Mika Brzezinski’s dragged in the First Lady Friday, saying she’s got the “worst job in the world” being married to Trump and is only staying for Barron’s sake. Melania Trump shot back, telling the Daily Mail, “It is sad when people try to further their own agenda by commenting on me and my family, especially when they don’t know me.”

Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski also weighed in, pointing out how many media figures, including Brzezinski and partner Joe Scarborough are nasty to Trump on the air while courting his friendship off of it.

The MSNBC sweethearts delayed their vacation in order to respond to their old friend Trump’s tweet, and soak in the inevitable ratings boost. (Faux hostility to generate audiences and business. Pretty much the definition of pro wrestling.)

As for President Trump, it’s clear from a new tweet Sunday afternoon he has no intention of leaving the ring. 

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/881604490041995271