trump apology
President-elect Donald Trump gestures to people in the lobby after speaking to the news media at Trump Tower in New York, Jan. 13, 2017. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

President-elect Donald Trump said in an interview, excerpts of which were released late Tuesday, that he uses Twitter as a shield against the “unbelievably dishonest” media. The real estate mogul, who has over 20 million Twitter followers, has posted more than 34,300 tweets since joining the social media platform in March 2009.

“Look, I don’t like tweeting, I have other things I can be doing,” Trump told Fox News in an interview set to air in full Wednesday morning. “But I get very dishonest media, very dishonest press. And it’s my only way that I can counteract. When people make misstatements about me, I’m able to say it and call it out.”

Trump sat down with Fox News' Ainsley Earhardt where he promised he would stop his habitual tweeting if the press started treating him fairly.

“Now if the press were honest, which it’s not, I would absolutely not use Twitter,” Trump said, without specifying as to what an “honest” press would actually be.

Since winning the presidency in November, the Republican went on several Twitter rants slamming the media for the reports against him.

Over the weekend, Trump was involved in a Twitter spat with Congressman John Lewis after the 76-year-old said he would not attend Trump's inauguration Friday, citing what he called Russian interference in the election.

"Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results," Trump tweeted in response. "All talk, talk, talk -- no action or results. Sad!"

Trump, who has been very active on Twitter with his early-morning rants and policy pronouncements, is yet to catch up with outgoing President Barack Obama's 80 million followers. Obama is currently the fourth-most followed person on Twitter.

The most popular Twitter users are Katy Perry with 95 million followers, Justin Bieber with 91 million followers and Taylor Swift with 83 million followers.