Although Donald Trump flew into a rage when he caught wife Melania watching CNN on Air Force One, Mrs. Trump has publicly announced she will watch “any channel she wants.”

Yesterday, The New York Times published a disturbing report about Trump’s “rages against reality.” It began with a telling anecdote about his insistence that Air Force One televisions be tuned to Fox News as "standard operating procedure":

On the first couple’s recent trip overseas, Melania Trump’s television aboard Air Force One was tuned to CNN. President Trump was not pleased.

He raged at his staff for violating a rule that the White House entourage should begin each trip tuned to Fox — his preferred network over what he considers the “fake news” CNN — and caused “a bit of a stir” aboard Air Force One, according to an email obtained by The New York Times. The email, an internal exchange between officials in the White House Military Office and the White House Communications Agency last Thursday, also called for the ordering of two additional televisions to support Beam, a TiVo-like streaming device, to make sure the president and first lady could both watch TV in their separate hotel rooms when they travel.

At the end of the email chain, officials confirmed that tuning the TVs to Fox would be standard operating procedure going forward.

The article goes on to note other, more serious examples of Trump’s war on truth, facts and reality. It’s a must read not just for what it says about Trump’s dangerous gaslighting but also as an explicit reminder that he might not get away with it were it not for Fox News.

Today, Melania Trump's spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, issued a statement. She scolded Americans for focusing on Melania’s television habits and Donald’s payout to a mistress rather than the serious issues Melania supposedly focuses her attention on. But it was also clear that as far as her television-watching habits are concerned, Melania Trump has joined the #Resistance:

"Did you know that every 15 minutes a baby is born with NAS? Maybe you'd like to talk about the 160,000 kids who skip school every day for fear of being bullied, or that 280,000 students are physically attacked in schools every month," Grisham said. "Seems kind of silly to worry about what channel she watches on TV (any channel she wants btw) or if she heard some recording on the news." (Emphases are mine.)

If Melania really cares about bullying, maybe she could stand up for the rest of us as her husband belligerently works at strong-arming us all out of believing what we see, hear and read.

(Melania Trump caricature by DonkeyHotey, via Creative Commons license.)