A billionaire US businessman and media figure has some advice for news reporters and denizens of social media: ignore Donald Trump.
The American president’s regular pronouncements via Twitter, especially late-night meltdowns where the Commander-In Chief becomes decreasingly coherent as he settles petty scores with journalists and news organisations, make headlines almost every week.
But Mark Cuban, Jewish owner of the Dallas Mavericks and a regular on Shark Tank - US TV’s equivalent of Dragon’s Den - thinks the news media should ignore the president's tweets and address more important issues, such as how to help America’ beleaguered working-class families.
Mr Cuban said the media need to understand how President Trump tries to "deflect and misdirect" attention.
"The media needs to learn that Trump is like any CEO,” Cuban told Fox News. “He will deflect and misdirect. It's time to start talking to the people who go to work every day and find out what is going on in their lives.
"What has changed for you since the election? Have you gotten a raise? A better job? Has your cost for health care gone down?"
#FraudNewsCNN #FNN pic.twitter.com/WYUnHjjUjg
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 2, 2017
Mr Cuban’s remarks coincided with a tweet from the @realDonaldTrump account which reproduced some video from a wrestling event that the President took part in years ago. It shows him fighting an opponent whose face had been overlaid with a CNN logo.
The user responsible for making the video clip, whose screen name is an unprintable corruption of "Han Solo" has repeatedly posted anti-Democrat conspiracy theories involving Jews and Democrats and fantasies about violence against both Muslims and cats.