This morning Trump took a break from his heavy schedule of watching Fox News to call into… Fox News. He gave a “wide-ranging” interview and by “wide-ranging” I mean he ranted like a lunatic about every conceivable annoyance rattling around in his head.
The interview got off to an awkward start, with Trump claiming he was calling in because it’s Melania’s birthday (weird). When the Fox & Friends crew asked him what he got her, he said ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Trump tells Fox and Friends he didn't get Melania anything for her birthday today because he is too busy, but he did her her a card and flowers. pic.twitter.com/go3bNHrGQY
— Tom Namako (@TomNamako) April 26, 2018
imagine your husband sloppily cheats on you repeatedly with a bunch of women, tries to blackmail them to shut up and then says he’s too “busy” to get you a birthday present. https://t.co/Wibl0TE9sU
— Liz Plank (@feministabulous) April 26, 2018
He also claimed credit for the right-wing media’s decades-long attempt to undermine mainstream media:
Earlier in the program, Trump says that people watching television "don't know it's fake news — I've taught them it's fake news."
He knows exactly what he's doing. pic.twitter.com/l6iUqGCxgD
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) April 26, 2018
The Fox & Friends hosts seemed pretty bored as they tried to get a screaming Trump on another subject and then off the phone entirely:
Here's Trump ranting about the fake news media while the Fox & Friends desperately try to get him to talk about something else. pic.twitter.com/yvWdfpeRc9
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) April 26, 2018
Eventually they cut him off because they were sure he had lots of work to do (lol).
Lol at their faces during the last 45 seconds or so. Tough day to be a cohost of “Good Morning Mr. President, We Love You Very Much” https://t.co/6lxJm3DPO4
— Patrick Monahan (@pattymo) April 26, 2018
— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) April 26, 2018
You Surely Have Better Things To Do Than This, Mr President, Fox And Friends Hosts Urge Timidly, As President Launches Into Eighth Hour Of Rant
— Alexandra Petri (@petridishes) April 26, 2018
The whole interview was pretty unhinged, even for Trump.
Former FBI Dir. James Comey says he’s not a leaker. President @realDonaldTrump reacts. pic.twitter.com/a497Yp8ESl
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) April 26, 2018
Twitter went off:
I've known comedians who have done cocaine and stayed up all night and they sounded just like trump on fox & friends
— (((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) April 26, 2018
I have seen three year olds on a sugar high give more coherent accounts of their actions than Trump just now.
— ana marie cox (@anamariecox) April 26, 2018
If you want to be reassured that the United States is in the hands of a sane, stable, and definitely not unhinged leader — don’t watch Trump’s shouty interview on Fox & Friends this morning.
— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) April 26, 2018
I think we can agree it would be a good thing for President Trump to face a tougher interview than Fox and Friends, but at the same time it's remarkable how much he volunteers without even really being pressed or prompted https://t.co/55lU9YQb5x
— Katie Watson (@kathrynw5) April 26, 2018
Trump somehow managed to make his legal troubles worse, both by admitting Cohen represented him in the Stormy Daniels matter (which Cohen says Trump was unaware of) and by claiming Cohen isn’t really his attorney:
Wow. Trump just said only “a tiny fraction” of his interactions with Cohen had to do with legal work.
Does that mean only “a tiny fraction” of the seized documents are protected by attorney client privilege?— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) April 26, 2018
Trump on Michael Cohen: “He represents me with this crazy Stormy Daniels deal, he represented me.”
Trump has previously said he was unaware of Cohen’s efforts in Oct. 2016 to pay Stormy Daniels to remain silent about their alleged sexual encounter.
— Rebecca Ballhaus (@rebeccaballhaus) April 26, 2018
Now you know why his legal team would rather sacrifice their children to Baal than let Trump speak to Mueller.
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) April 26, 2018
Stormy Daniels’ attorney definitely noticed:
Thank you @foxandfriends for having Mr. Trump on this morning to discuss Michael Cohen and our case. Very informative.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) April 26, 2018
And so did the US Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York, investigating Michael Cohen:
SDNY tells court: "Trump, reportedly said on cable television this morning that Cohen performs 'a tiny, tiny little fraction' of his overall legal work." https://t.co/SnN3l2M0Pj
— Mike Scarcella (@MikeScarcella) April 26, 2018
And there you have it. Prosecutors are using Trump’s interview this morning to weaken Cohen’s argument that privilege applies to everything seized in the raid. https://t.co/OCH8PoIKHk
— Christina Wilkie (@christinawilkie) April 26, 2018
LOL whoops.