"Fake News" Trump associates say prime time TV uses 'innuendo' to disparage the Prez

Forget “fake news.” Some TV watchers with ties to the Trump administration tell us they’re now dealing with real fiction.

Media watchers close to the President are unhappy about television shows crafting episodes around fictional politicians who, in their opinion, are meant to disparage The Donald.

“They feel the Hollywood elite is using its power to make these innuendos about President Trump,” we’re told. “People in the administration are upset about it.”

Our insider says

CBS program “Madame Secretary” and ABC's “Designated Survivor” in recent weeks have prompted discussion among, at the very least, midlevel Trump associates.

On a recent episode of the former, Tea Leoni, who plays the secretary of state, meets with a chauvinistic national leader abroad who manhandles women and has a shady relationship with a foreign government that knows his secrets.

According to our insider, people who work with the President feel the episode was a not-so-subtle reference to ongoing blackmail rumors surrounding The Donald. The notoriously thin-skinned commander-in-chief — a former game show host — is a known pop-culture enthusiast, but has not discussed these particular programs with our insider.

“I can’t put those words in his mouth — I don’t know if he watches those shows, but he watches a lot of TV,” says our source. “We know he watches Fox and CNN and ‘Saturday Night Live.’ ”

The President frequently tweets commentary on the latter two and actively promotes programming on Fox.

On a recent episode of “Designated Survivor,” in which a politician played by Kiefer Sutherland becomes President after the cabinet officials ahead of him are all killed, some Trump workers were offended by a recent line from the show.

“Someone says, ‘The President is learning on the job’ and another characters says, ‘You can’t learn on the job.’ ” Our source says some Trump supporters saw that “as a direct attack.”

A rep for ABC says "Designated Survivor" was shot long before Trump became President, so any parallels are coincidental. CBS could not be reached for comment.