Donald Trump called into Fox News last night to talk about Tiger Woods’ car crash but in the eight-minute chat with host Katie Pavlich, there was not one question about the Supreme Court’s refusal to block the release of his tax returns to New York prosecutors.
Apparently, Trump is no longer mad at Fox News, or at least not mad enough to keep him away. Tuesday night’s chat on Fox News Primetime was his third phoner in a week.
Like everyone else, I wish Woods a speedy and full recovery. But as bad as the accident was, his injuries were not life-threatening. And clearly, Trump had no information to impart, other than to reminisce about Woods. And, of course, Trump boasted about how much Woods liked him.
TRUMP: I've known him for a long time and he was just always great to me. And I've always felt the same with him. I've always just liked him. You know, we had a good chemistry and always have.
[...]
[When I awarded Woods the Medal of Freedom] it was a big event and he considered this one of the great honors of his life. And he has won all of these majors and all of the tournaments, I guess he's second in tournaments and in the majors, he's at 15, that's a lot of majors. And it was an exciting day. It was a beautiful day. It was so good in so many ways and he made a lot of progress from that day and then this has to happen. He's a very respected person. He's so respected by the other players, they idolize him. And he's gonna be back. I have no doubt about it. He's gonna be back.
[…]
This is very tragic. I got in today and they immediately told me about it and you turn on the television and you see that's all they're covering now. There’s something very unique and very special about Tiger.
There's nothing wrong with any of that. But no journalist worth her salt would have chatted with Trump for so long without asking about a big news subject he does know something about, i.e. the Supreme Court ruling the day before clearing the way for his financial records to be released to a criminal investigation. From The New York Times:
The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a last-ditch attempt by former President Donald J. Trump to shield his financial records, issuing a brief, unsigned order that ended Mr. Trump’s bitter 18-month battle to stop prosecutors in Manhattan from poring over his tax returns as they investigate possible financial crimes.
The court’s order was a decisive defeat for Mr. Trump, who had gone to extraordinary lengths to keep his tax returns and related documents secret, taking his case to the Supreme Court twice. There were no dissents noted.
…
The ruling is also a big victory for the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., a Democrat. He will now have access to eight years’ worth of Mr. Trump’s personal and corporate tax returns, as well as other financial records that Mr. Vance’s investigators view as vital to their inquiry into whether the former president and his company manipulated property values to obtain bank loans and tax benefits.
…
In his own lengthy statement, Mr. Trump lashed out at the Supreme Court’s decision and the investigation. He characterized the inquiry as a politically motivated attack by New York Democrats, calling it “a continuation of the greatest political Witch Hunt in the history of our Country.” He also falsely asserted, again, that he had won the 2020 election.
Pavlich is the latest in a rotating cast of guest hosts of the new Fox News Primetime show this week. It’s obviously an audition for a permanent hosting gig. A legit newsperson would have jumped at the opportunity to ask Trump about an important story, one he does know something about.
But, clearly, Pavlich knows that buddying up to Trump, not challenging him, is in the permanent host's job description. So we only got softball questions such as, “How did you react when you first heard the news” about Woods’ car accident? And “You spent time with him on the golf course. Tell us about your experience with him, your friendship, how you got to know him.”
You can watch the interview below, from the February 23, 2021 Fox News Primetime.