Press organization condemns fake massacre by Trump depicted at pro-Trump event

The WHCA statement followed a report Sunday in the New York Times of a graphic video shown to Trump supporters at a conference at the Florida facility.

The Times report said: "The video, which includes the logo for Mr. Trump's 2020 re-election campaign, comprises a series of internet memes. The most violent clip shows Mr. Trump's head superimposed on the body of a man opening fire inside the 'Church of Fake News' on parishioners who have the faces of his critics or the logos of media organizations superimposed on their bodies."

POLITICO was among the news organizations shown as targets of the Trump violence.

Besides journalists, other targets depicted include the late John McCain, California Reps. Adam Schiff and Maxine Waters, Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, and former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham wrote in a tweet Monday morning: "Re: the video played over the weekend: The @POTUS @realDonaldTrump has not yet seen the video, he will see it shortly, but based upon everything he has heard, he strongly condemns this video."

The Trump character in the video shoots, stabs and beats his victims; at one point, he sets Bernie Sanders' head on fire. Other past and present election rivals also are depicted.

The footage seems to have been converted for political use from a 2014 movie, "Kingsman: The Secret Service." The parallel scene in that movie depicts a massacre inside a church in Kentucky triggered by an evil tycoon portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson.

Alex Phillips of American Priority, the group organizing the event in Miami, told the Times that the video was produced by an outside organization.

Trump has frequently attacked what he calls "fake news" generated by many news organizations throughout his presidency, sometimes directly attacking a specific news organization or reporter, sometimes attacking the media as a whole. In recent months, he has even attacked his favored news outlet, Fox News. The president also regularly heaps scorn on journalists covering his campaign rallies.