President Trump revealed the highly anticipated “Fake News Awards” on Wednesday night in the form of a list on the Republican National Committee’s website which immediately crashed due to high traffic.
And the FAKE NEWS winners are...https://t.co/59G6x2f7fD— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018
The list included 11 “fake news” reports from the president’s usual targets: CNN, the Washington Post, and the New York Times. It also mentions stories in regards to crowd sizes, the Russian collusion investigation, and fired FBI Director James Comey.





The 11th award, however, did not go to one specific outlet or reporter, but instead went to the entire Russian collusion investigation.

“And last, but not least: ‘RUSSIA COLLUSION!’ Russian collusion is perhaps the greatest hoax perpetrated on the American people. THERE IS NO COLLUSION!” the award read.
The award went further to link a recent tweet from the president dismissing claims that his campaign worked with Russians as a “hoax.”
“Well, now that collusion with Russia is proving to be a total hoax and the only collusion is with Hillary Clinton and the FBI/Russia, the Fake News Media (Mainstream) and this phony new book are hitting out at every new front imaginable. They should try winning an election. Sad,” the featured tweet read.
Well, now that collusion with Russia is proving to be a total hoax and the only collusion is with Hillary Clinton and the FBI/Russia, the Fake News Media (Mainstream) and this phony new book are hitting out at every new front imaginable. They should try winning an election. Sad!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2018
The awards list went on to mention a recent report that 90 percent of media coverage on the White House is negative and offered 10 news stories they deemed worthy of coverage, including tax cuts, unemployment rates, and the appointment of Justice Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.


After unveiling the highly anticipated awards, the president penned a follow-up tweet giving a hat tip to reporters who bring “good news.”
“Despite some very corrupt and dishonest media coverage, there are many great reporters I respect and lots of GOOD NEWS for the American people to be proud of!” he wrote.
Despite some very corrupt and dishonest media coverage, there are many great reporters I respect and lots of GOOD NEWS for the American people to be proud of!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018
“ISIS is in retreat, our economy is booming, investments and jobs are pouring back into the country, and so much more!” he followed up. Together there is nothing we can’t overcome—even a very biased media. We ARE Making America Great Again!
ISIS is in retreat, our economy is booming, investments and jobs are pouring back into the country, and so much more! Together there is nothing we can’t overcome—even a very biased media. We ARE Making America Great Again!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 18, 2018
The link to the “Fake News Awards” crashed after just a few minutes of being released due to high traffic, and people were given an error code. The RNC apologized for the website crashing, citing "off the record" traffic and vowed to have the list back up and running soon.
About an hour later, the RNC announced the page was back up.
We know you're waiting to see the results. After the massive demand, our page is back up: https://t.co/DMloqE1Vwe pic.twitter.com/zgk8aQd6AY— GOP (@GOP) January 18, 2018
The president has been teasing the media over the past few weeks with the "Fake News Awards," which had been rescheduled from Jan. 8 to Jan. 17, in a series of tweets that offered no explanation as to what they would look like or how they would be presented. As of Wednesday's White House press briefing, members of the media were left in the dark as to whether the awards were still happening.