President Trump attacked the media this morning for the rumors and speculation surrounding his wife’s absence from the spotlight after her surgery last month:

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1004359335399641089

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1004360833407815680

One of the reporters who has led the charge on this story is CNN’s Brian Stelter who immediately claimed the president was arguing in bad faith:

Trump is conflating random Twitter commenters with "the media" here. A common tactic of bad faith critics. But disappointing to see POTUS do it. pic.twitter.com/7tWObMmUdD

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 6, 2018

Wait a minute. What if the Twitter commenters aren’t “random”? What if they are people who work in the media?

Suppose President Trump punched the First Lady in the White House (federal property = federal jurisdiction), then ordered the Secret Service to conceal the assault. POTUS has Article II authority over Secret Service. Is that obstruction? Under Sekulow/Dowd, apparently NO

— David Frum (@davidfrum) June 2, 2018

This guy writes for Rolling Stone:

I wish that I didn’t suspect that the prolonged, poorly explained public absence of Melania Trump could be about concealing abuse. I wish that it was a ludicrous prospect. I wish that the @POTUS wasn’t a man with a history of abusing women, including those to whom he is married.

— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) June 3, 2018

This person has written for Vox and the Guardian:

Please read this thread on how abuse works.

You don’t have to be a Melania fan to be suspicious/concerned right now. For all we know, she’s fine. But we *also* know how Trump treats/views women. https://t.co/43P3gw1EtN

— Natalia Antonova (@NataliaAntonova) May 31, 2018

Globe and Mail writer.

I have ideas, none good. I'm sticking with the facts. The fact is that Trump has assaulted and abused women for decades. Melania was abruptly hospitalized after her most public appearance as FLOTUS, then vanished. He lied about her being in a window; someone forged her tweets…

— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) June 3, 2018

Salon writer:

Given Biff's behavior, past & present, it's not out of line to imagine the worst about Melania's disappearance. Something's definitely wrong. Could be a marriage thing, could be a cosmetic surgery thing, could be an abuse thing. Absent a valid explanation, speculation runs amok.

— Bob Cesca (@bobcesca_go) June 3, 2018

Entertainment Weekly doesn’t spell out a particular theory but says she’s now a believer:

https://twitter.com/DanaSchwartzzz/status/1001922327506960384

The point is, there were multiple people in the media speculating wildly in public. I’m pointing out the blue check marks but there are thousands of people making similar remarks or agreeing with all of this speculation. Case in point, this guy made a joke on Twitter and was RT’d over 130,000 times.

Wait a minute pic.twitter.com/V7S93anMFB

— Felipe Sobreiro (@therealsobreiro) May 31, 2018

Brian Stelter’s response to this is that none of that constitutes media reporting. It’s just people with big followings on Twitter:

Comments on Twitter, even from people with big followings, are not the same as "reporting" by real news outlets. By all means, hold the writers accountable! But let's all be honest enough to distinguish between "bad speculative tweets" and "reporting" by "the media."

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 6, 2018

That’s true! It’s not really reporting but the “real news outlets” are still paying attention to the rumors bubbling up from the left-wing fever swamps all around them. As Jeryl Bier pointed out, they are reporting the rumors as rumors but it’s still getting out there:

Politico:
"She’s holed up with the Obamas, working on a tell-all book about her husband — unless she had a secret nip and tuck, in which case she’s just healing."https://t.co/ZhMsfX6zjy

— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) June 6, 2018

USAToday: "The rumor mill went into overtime: Is she seriously ill? Was there trouble in the Trump marriage? Did she run away back to New York? Is she recovering from plastic surgery?"https://t.co/4PhhCVYCgp

— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) June 6, 2018

CNN even brought up the plastic surgery rumor:

And then there's this outfit called CNN…https://t.co/XEsUZN7dhz pic.twitter.com/Hhf0ncrDz0

— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) June 6, 2018

And here’s Newsweek:

Oops. Newsweek, too: "Conspiracy theories seem to follow first lady Melania Trump around: Does she have a doppelganger who does the jobs she hates? Does she hate her life and wish her husband wasn’t president? (Probably.)"https://t.co/CRnzCniu9R pic.twitter.com/kWle4c2qyB

— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) June 6, 2018

NY Magazine’s site The Cut ran a story focusing on which plastic surgery procedures might explain Melania’s absence.

The Internet ran wild with plastic surgery theories about Melania Trump’s 24-day disappearance. But which procedures, if any, might merit a three-week-plus recovery time? https://t.co/GckcadXP6G

— The Cut (@TheCut) June 5, 2018

The point is, the stuff Trump brought up in his tweets really has been circulating broadly and some journalists and news outlets have participated in those unfounded rumors. It would, of course, be one thing if someone came forward with an actual story about why Melania has been out of the limelight for several weeks post-surgery. That would be fair game. But what has been happening in lieu of real news is lots of dark speculation backed up by nothing. Instead of hand-waving that away, Stelter should acknowledge the rumors have been gradually crawling out of the left-wing fever swamps and creeping into the broader media absent any facts.