policy
Former President Donald Trump watched television on Thursday night and he didn't like what he saw.
His newly elected Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, had just accused him of groveling before dictators, endangering democracy and betraying American values, and to top all of it off, called him an “untrustworthy person.”
So Trump picked up the phone and called Fox News. The network immediately put him on live coverage of the Democratic National Convention, and the previous president gave him an out-of-nowhere, aimless rebuttal.
Fox moderators Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum tried several times to step in and ask a matter. Trump ignored them several times. “Mr. President, let me interrupt,” Baier pleaded at one point. Trump continued speaking.
The impromptu call – which lasted 10 minutes before Fox News told Trump it had run out of time – got here shortly after he posted real-time commentary on Harris' speech on his social media platform, Truth Social.
His posts there, which used capital letters arbitrarily, were aimed less at her specific remarks than at more general complaints about issues that Trump desires to concentrate on: crime, immigration and the economy.
Sometimes he digressed.
“WHERE IS HUNTER?” Trump asked as Harris took the stage, reviving one in all his favorite slogans concerning the son of President Joe Biden, who withdrew his candidacy weeks ago.
At one point, Trump asked, referring to Harris in all caps, “Is she talking about me?” (She was, and infrequently.)
Trump also accused Harris' running mate, Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota, of exaggerating his status as the pinnacle of a highschool football team. “Walz was an assistant coach, not a coach,” he wrote.
A number of minutes later, Trump claimed on Fox News that Harris had not achieved much during her term as vp.
“All these things she talked about – 'We're going to do this, we're going to do that, we're going to do everything' – but she didn't do any of it!” Trump said live, complaining: “She didn't talk about China, she didn't talk about fracking, she didn't talk about crime.”
His only concession? The Democratic Congressional Hall. “It was a nice room,” he said.
When MacCallum aptly noted that Harris has had “some success” with women, Hispanics and black voters, Trump disagreed. “She's not having success, I'm having success,” he said. “I'm doing great with Hispanics, I'm doing great with black men, I'm doing great with women.”
“They only have that in your eyes, Martha,” he added. “We are doing very well.”
At several points in the course of the call, a well-recognized beeping sound interrupted Trump's remarks. It seemed as if the previous president had by accident pressed keys on his phone's keypad.
Finally, while Trump was still in mid-sentence, Baier ended the interview and thanked his guest for his time: “We appreciate the live feedback.”
The station immediately switched to an episode of its late-night comedy program “Gutfeld!”
Moderator Greg Gutfeld appeared confused. “That wasn't my fault, Donald Trump,” he said, chatting with the president on television.
“By the way, he’s still talking,” joked Gutfeld.
image credit : www.boston.com