Donald Trump’s very thin skin couldn’t take the challenging questions Fox News anchor Leland Vittert asked a Republican congressman about the so-called national emergency at the border. So instead of spending his day dealing with that "emergency," Trump rage tweeted at Vittert and two other Fox anchors deemed not sycophantic enough to suit Dear Leader’s ego.
Apparently, after Trump got through whining about Fox host Jeanine Pirro’s suspension – for anti-Muslim bigotry, no less – he spent more “executive time” ignoring the New Zealand tragedy in favor of watching his favorite network. But instead of the lickspittle he probably expected, Trump’s tender ego got a terrible shock: an anchor suggesting that his “national emergency” just might be an un-Constitutional power grab.
According to Business Insider, Trump singled out Vittert for attack, along with cohost Arthel Neville and FNC weekday anchor Shepard Smith, after Vittert challenged Republican Rep. Sean Duffy (also the husband of Fox News’ Rachel Campos-Duffy) about the constitutionality of the national emergency.
“Is this precedent worth it?” Vittert asked Duffy pointedly. “To get a border wall or get funding for part of a border wall, for Congress to continue to give away more and more authority?”
Later, Vittert pushed back on Duffy’s support for the national emergency by highlighting his disapproval of President Barack Obama for supposedly “changing the law” via executive action on immigration. Noting that the Constitution “clearly says the power of the purse is with Congress,” Vittert asked, “If all of a sudden you're using executive action and emergency powers to move that funding around, how is that not changing law?"
Oh, that was just too much for Trump to bear:
Were @FoxNews weekend anchors, @ArthelNeville and @LelandVittert, trained by CNN prior to their ratings collapse? In any event, that’s where they should be working, along with their lowest rated anchor, Shepard Smith!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2019
Later, Trump chose to retweet this ego balm rather than protect us all from that national emergency:
Watch the interview that Trump couldn’t handle below, from the March 17, 2019 America’s News HQ.
(Trump caricature by DonkeyHotey via Creative Commons license.)
I don’t think he’ll be reined in, either, because the news division is deliberately trying to distinguish itself from the opinion division.