Trump tweets mock video showing him beating man labeled CNN

"The fake media tried to stop us from going to the White House, but I'm president and they're not," Trump told a supportive crowd Saturday in Washington.

A White House spokeswoman, Sarah Sanders, told reporters last week that Trump "in no way, form or fashion has ever promoted or encouraged violence."CNN, in its response to the video posted Sunday, said it was "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."CNN's statement noted the weighty list of issues before Trump — an overseas trip this week that includes a meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, the stalled health care bill, the threat from North Korea. Instead of focusing on those matters, CNN said, "he is involved in juvenile behavior far below the dignity of his office. We will keep doing our jobs. He should start doing his."Trump's latest tweet came as Republicans and Democrats have been imploring him to focus on leading the country, rather than exploding on social media.

For days, Trump has focused his ire on Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough, co-hosts of MSNBC's "Morning Joe."Trump took to Twitter on Thursday to call Brzezinski "crazy" and contend she was "bleeding badly from a face-lift" when he once saw them at his Florida estate. The comment was decried as sexist and vulgar by many Democrats and Republicans.

The MSNBC personalities said Friday that Trump was lying about their December encounter and they questioned his "unhealthy obsession" with their program.

The hosts, who are a couple onscreen and off, also said the White House told them a damaging National Enquirer story about their relationship would "go away" if they called the president and apologized for harsh commentary. Trump quickly disputed the claim on Twitter.

Republican officials acknowledged Sunday that Trump's Twitter feed distracts from work like health care.

"We in Washington, we in the country, cannot be focused on tweets," said Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., adding that "I get so frustrated when we get focused on tweets."Gov. John Kasich, R-Ohio, said he hoped Trump's family would talk to him and say, "Knock it off.""The coarseness doesn't help anybody," he said.

AP