On Friday morning, Trump phoned his favorite supporters, the always reliable propagandists and television hosts on Fox & Friends. The president used his 53-minute phone “interview” to complain about the impeachment proceedings, give life to discredited conspiracy theories, and denigrate prominent women.
First he was off on the baseless conspiracy theory on the Democratic National Committee server being housed somewhere in Ukraine.
“I still want to see that server. You know, the FBI’s never gotten that server. That’s a big part of this whole thing. Why did they give it to a Ukrainian company?”
From Vox:
“The FBI went in and they told them, ‘Get outta here; were not giving [the server] to you,’” Trump said on-air. “They gave the server to CrowdStrike, or whatever it’s called.”
The president then falsely claimed CrowdStrike is owned by a wealthy Ukrainian. CrowdStrike is an American company co-owned by two U.S. citizens, one of whom was born in Russia.
It was apparently even a bit of a stretch for the Fox hosts. Vox writes:
Even host Steve Doocy seemed somewhat taken aback by Trump’s claims and responded by asking him, “Are you sure they did that? Are you sure they gave it to Ukraine?”
Trump’s sourcing was weak, to put it mildly.
“Well, that’s what the word is,” he said.
The rant became steadily more misogynistic as Trump started going after women associated with his impeachment. In addition to calling Nancy Pelosi “paralyzed,” the president said the Speaker was “totally incompetent,” “absolutely lost,” “crazy as a bedbug,” “nuts,” “not talented,” “highly overrated.”
The Week reports that Trump also repeatedly criticized former Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch and the way she decorated the U.S Embassy in Kiev during her tenure.
“In multiple sentences, Trump explained how Yovanovitch apparently refused to hang up his picture at the embassy in Ukraine. “She said bad things about me, she refused to defend me,” Trump complained. “This was not an angel, this woman.”
He didn’t limit the trash talk to women. He also called Representative Adam Schiff a “sick puppy,” said the head of the Intelligence Committee “makes it all up,” and “there’s something wrong with him.”
How about Rudy? Any room left under the bus for Trump’s personal attorney? Not today.
“But Rudy Giuliani was one of the great crime fighters of all time. He’s also a friend of mine. He’s a great person. He’s like an iconic figure in this country for two reasons. He was the greatest mayor in the history of New York and he was the greatest crime fighter probably in the last 50 years.
“When Rudy Giuliani goes there, and you hear it’s a corrupt country, I mean it means a lot. It means a lot.”
The rant continued on to the border wall. Here, Trump revealed that parts of the wall have been electrified, something that the White House has never confirmed.
Also from The Week:
Brian Kilmeade’s face immediately sunk, and he looked to his seemingly unconcerned co-hosts as Trump explained it’s so “if anyone touches it,” border agents can “get there within minutes.” “You electrified the wall?” a seemingly shocked Kilmeade then asked, but Trump ignored the question and kept talking.
After the call ended, Kilmeade explained that Trump’s bizarre calls to Fox & Friends are a mode of “stress relief.”
This post contains opinion.