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Donald Trump has blamed what he called "Fake News " for stoking "anger and rage" in the wake of two gun attacks that killed a total of 29 people, one of which is being treated as a case of domestic terrorism.
In a tweet on Monday morning, the president said the media had a responsibility to safeguard "life and safety" in the United States.
"Fake News has contributed greatly to the anger and rage that has built up over many years," he wrote.
"News coverage has got to start being fair, balanced and unbiased, or these terrible problems will only get worse!"
The tweet came at the end of a string of angry missives about the El Paso and Dayton mass shootings over the weekend, which saw 29 people shot dead in less than 24 hours.
El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart storeShow all 39 1 /39El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store CCTV images of the gunman identified as Patrick Crusius The 21 year old, as he entered the Cielo Vista Walmart store in El Paso. The gunman was armed with an assault rifle and opened fire on shoppers at a packed Walmart store, killing 20.
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Law enforcement agencies respond The Texas city’s police chief said the assault on a Walmart store on Saturday, which left another 26 people wounded, was being investigated as a potential hate crime.
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Shoppers exit with their hands up
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store FBI released a picture of gunman Patrick Crusius The police officially identified the 21-year-old white male from Allen, Texas, a Dallas suburb some 650 miles east of El Paso.
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store A woman reacts after the mass shooting The attack came just minutes after a far-right manifesto appeared online. If authentic, it would make it the third mass shooting this year announced in advance on the website, which often features far-right and racist content.
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Law enforcement responds to the active shooter The racist four-page document, titled “The Inconvenient Truth”, calls the Walmart attack “a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas” and expresses support for the gunman who killed 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand earlier this year.
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store A shopper hiding with an old lady behind the return and exchanges counter as the shooting began.
Aaron Castaneda/Reuters
El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Ambulances in the car park near the scene It is ranked as the eighth-deadliest mass shooting in modern US history, after a 1984 shooting in San Ysidro, California, that claimed 21 lives.
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Kendall Long (left) comforts Kianna Long (right) who was in the freezer section of Walmart.
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Shoppers exit with their hands up.
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Shopping carts sit next to a curb after the shooting.
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store El Paso Fire Medical personnel arrive at the scene.
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Walmart employees react after.
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store A woman runs to police near the scene.
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Several law enforcement agencies respond.
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People arrive at MacArthur Elementary looking for family and friends as the school is being used a re-unification centre.
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Residents Erica Rios, 36, and Alma Rios, 61, cry outside a reunification centre.
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People gather in Juarez, Mexico, in a vigil for the Mexican nationals who were killed.
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store A child takes part in a vigil in Ciudad Juarez
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Francisco Castaneda joins mourners taking part in a vigil at El Paso High School.
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Presidential candidate and former congressman Beto O'Rourke, right, meets with mass shooting survivor, Rosemary, at University Medical Centre
Beto O'Rourke Facebook via AP
El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store From left, Melody Stout, Hannah Payan, Aaliyah Alba, Sherie Gramlich and Laura Barrios comfort each other during a vigil for victims of the shooting.
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store A sign is posted near the scene
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Police cars parked below the Walmart sign block a road outside while investigating.
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Sherie Gramlich reacts during a vigil.
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store A man places flowers at the site
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People take part in a rally against hate a day after a mass shooting at the Walmart store
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Lupe Lopez holds a picture of a victim during a vigil for victims
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Elsa Mendoza Marquez, a Mexican schoolteacher who was married and the mother of two adult children, was one of the victims
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People with the Mexican flag and the US flag take part in a rally against hate a day
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People raise their arms in the air during a vigil for victims
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People react and embrace each other
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Women light candles at a make shift memorial at the site of a mass shooting
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Adria Gonzalez (centre) who is being hailed as a hero for leading some Walmart customers to safety, speaks to the crowd
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store People hold up their phones
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store Beto O'Rourke speaks to the crowd
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El Paso mass shooting: 20 killed at Walmart store
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Earlier, Mr Trump had thrown his support behind tougher background checks for buying guns, but then insisted any legislation was tied to immigration reform.
There is no obvious connection between the two shootings and immigration reform. The suspect in El Paso, Patrick Crusius, is believed to be a white nationalist and police are treating the attack as an act of domestic terrorism.
Now, the president has turned his ire on the familiar foe of the media and appeared to accuse journalists of being partly to blame for the epidemic of gun violence which blights America.
Speaking to reporters just before boarding Air Force One, Mr Trump had offered his condolences to the families of those killed in Dayton and El Paso.
"We love the people," he added. "Hate has no place in our country."
However, earlier Democrats had accused Mr Trump of "sowing seeds of hate" and said he, not the media, was responsible for the wave of right-wing terrorist attacks in recent years.
Cory Booker, a Democratic senator and presidential candidate, told NBC: "You reap what you sow, and he is sowing seeds of hate in this country.
Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside barShow all 21 1 /21Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Several officers (top left and right) firing at Connor Betts (bottom left), who they identified as the gunman, seconds after he began killing people outside a bar in Dayton, Ohio
Dayton Police Department/EPA
Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Betts killed nine people including his sister, and injured 26 others. He was also shot dead at the scene by the responding officers
Dayton Police Department/AP
Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar The Anderson Manufacturing AM-15 rifle with a 100-round double drum magazine which Connor Betts used
Dayton Police Department/EPA
Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Surveillance footage of people beginning to flee from the sound of gunshots fired by Connor Betts
Dayton Police Department/EPA
Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Police officers move towards Connor Betts
Dayton Police Department/EPA
Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar The vehicle which Connor Betts traveled to the scene in
Dayton Police Department/EPA
Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Bodies are removed from the scene of a mass shooting in Dayton
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Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar The city's mayor, Nan Whaley, said the shooter was wearing body armour and used a ".223 high-capacity" gun during the assault. “In less than one minute, Dayton first responders neutralized the shooter.”
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Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar The FBI is assisting with the investigation
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Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar It was the second mass shooting in the US in less than 24 hours
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Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Witnesses comfort one another at the scene
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Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Police tape drapes over a chair near a pile of shoes. The shooting took place in the popular bar and nightlife area, Oregon district
Dayton Daily News via AP
Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Dayton police look for evidence
Dayton Daily News via AP
Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Shoes piled outside the scene
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Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Residents comfort each other as they await word on whether they know any of the victims
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Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Authorities retrieve evidence markers
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Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Evidence markers lay on the ground near a hotdog stand
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Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar
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Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar People fill the streets during a vigil
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Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Mourners gather to recognise the victims
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Ohio shooting: Gunman kills nine after opening fire outside bar Mourners leave flowers and candles at the entrance of Ned Peppers bar
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"This harvest of hate violence we’re seeing right now lies at his feet. He is responsible."
Mr Trump has repeatedly attacked the media since he was elected, condemning almost any critical coverage of his divisive presidency as "fake news".
Although the business mogul's linking of the press with the two shootings appears to simply continue this trend, he is not the first person to connect journalism and gun violence.
Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events There is some evidence the media's coverage of mass shootings can lead to a wave of copycat attacks.
One study from last year by Australian researchers concluded there were spikes in the numbers of shootings in America after a high profile incident is given wall-to-wall exposure on rolling TV news.
In total, the study suggested 58 per cent of all shootings in the three year sample they examined could be linked to coverage of previous tragedies.
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