Fox News Urges Trump to Fire Rosenstein Over Comments in the ‘Fake News, Failing’ New York Times

The latest bombshell to emerge from Washington D.C. in the twisted era of Donald Trump comes just as the controversy over Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is reaching a boiling point. Is it a distraction or a legitimate news story that demands immediate attention? No matter, it’s already getting the airwave blanketing that was inevitable considering the subject.

Donald Trump, Fox News

The New York Times is reporting that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had floated the idea of secretly recording Trump to gather evidence that he was mentally unstable and unfit for service. There was reportedly further discussion of invoking the 25th Amendment to declare the President incompetent and remove him from office. Other news reports have spoken to sources who say that Rosenstein was being sarcastic. And Rosenstein himself issued a firm denial.

What’s peculiar about this story, other than the distracting effect it has on Kavanaugh’s alleged sexual misconduct, is that the only other beneficiary of it would be the White House. It gives Trump an excuse to fire Rosenstein and appoint someone in his place who would put the brakes on the investigation of special counsel, Robert Mueller. But it would be somewhat hypocritical for Trump to do that on the basis of a story from a news source that he considers fake and failing. Consequently, he might need some support from his cheering section (and shadow cabinet) at State TV, also known as Fox News. And he’s already getting it:


[Note: Ingraham deleted this tweet the next day. Was it because Hannity took the opposite position?]

Wow. Are these three confirmed Trump-fluffers all buying into the “fake news” from the New York Times? Laura Ingraham, Gregg Jarrett, and Jeanine Pirro are three of Trump’s most devoted supplicants on Fox News. And it stands to reason that they would want to rush to give him cover to jettison the bone spur that has traveled from Trump’s foot to his ample backside. But will he take the bait?

Trump has posted ten tweets since this news broke, and none of them are about Rosenstein or the New York Times. Is he consulting with Sean Hannity, Bill Shine, and the rest of his propaganda team to come up with a strategy? Is he afraid to get out too far ahead of the story while it’s still unfolding? Is he getting spanked by a porn star at Mar-A-Lago? Who knows? But the fear factor may be the most plausible scenario. Because even his pals at Fox News aren’t completely in his corner. Shelby Holliday of Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal had this to say in an interview shortly after the story was released:

It probably won’t be long until Trump makes his views known about this. He is simply too lacking in self control to keep his mouth shut. But if he does fire Rosenstein he’s going to have to explain why he suddenly believes the “failing” New York Times” whose story was based on the anonymous sources that Trump says don’t exist. He will also have to face more charges of obstruction of justice as Mueller gets closer to wrapping up his probe. But if he let’s it go, then Mueller and company proceed as before. So all told, this is really a lose-lose proposition for Trump.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

LATE BREAKING: Sean Hannity is diverging from his Fox colleagues above. On his program Friday night he had a personal message for Trump, warning him that “Under zero circumstances should the president fire anybody.” Hannity thinks Trump is being set up by Democrats – or the deep state, or Satan – and that giving Rosenstein the boot is a “set up,” a plot to justify impeachment. Those insidious demonrats.

Uh-Oh: Fox News Host Says that Trump’s Attack on Kavanaugh Accuser ‘Might Blow This Up’

The melodrama concerning Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, and Christine Blasey Ford, the woman he allegedly assaulted, just seems to keep gaining momentum. Especially when Trump himself can’t help but intervene with idiotic and damaging comments on Twitter. And on that score, Friday morning’s regularly scheduled tweetstorm didn’t disappoint.

Fox News Trump

For much of the past couple of weeks, Trump has been relatively restrained with regard to Dr. Ford. The White House was even bragging about how sensitive he’s been by not attacking her, which is what would be expected from this petulant brat of a president. But that all ended Friday when Trump’s will power (or babysitters) failed him:

First of all, it’s ludicrous for Trump to say that facts don’t matter to the Democrats, when they are the ones that want the FBI to investigate and produce a factual account of what happened. It’s Trump and the GOP who are opposed to that fact-finding effort.

But more to the point, Trump’s attack on Dr. Ford is as brazen as it is senseless. He knows (or should know) the details of Dr. Ford’s account and why she didn’t report the incident at the time. That’s all public. So Trump is deliberately pushing to inject a false narrative into the affair.

And that seems to be all the rage these days. Ed Whelan of the National Review pushed his own conspiracy theory yesterday about another possible suspect in the sexual assault. The only problem was that he had no evidence or even a plausible argument. It was so bad that Whelan posted an apology for his “appalling and inexcusable mistake of judgment” on Twitter last night. However, that didn’t stop Fox News from promoting the libelous accusation:

Interestingly, Fox News host Ed Henry asked in that segment “Is it a case of mistaken identity?” He and his co-hosts were giving credence to the allegations that the author had already disowned. Although Fox News has still not issued any retractions or apologies for regurgitating the charges. And what makes Henry’s validation of Whelan’s lies interesting is that he later appeared on another Fox program to criticize Trump for tweeting about Dr. Ford (video below):

“If you had asked me an hour ago, I would have said that I think Judge Kavanaugh is in a strong position. But In the last hour the President is tweeting, questioning Dr. Ford’s account. Why didn’t she go to the police? The White House has been making such a big deal about how the President stayed off Twitter. He’s not attacking the woman here. He’s just praising Judge Kavanaugh.

“And I think it seems to me – I don’t want to overreact – but it seems to be a big mistake to take a situation that has been calming down. There’s been negotiations over testimony and I think the Republicans have had the upper hand this week, because it started with this shocker on Sunday in the Washington Post. That he’s sailing to confirmation. Maybe not. There’s a problem here. She needs to be heard, and the Republicans said let’s hear from her. I think the president intervening might blow this up.”

Let’s set aside the absurd analysis that the Republicans had the upper hand. If that were true they would not have canceled the confirmation vote for Kavanaugh that was originally scheduled for yesterday. But Henry’s concern that Trump’s tweets might “blow this up” are proof that even Fox News is worried that Kavanaugh’s confirmation may be in jeopardy. And even worse, that it’s the fault of Trump’s uncontrolled psyche and ego.

If this nomination is blown up due to an unhinged outburst by Trump, it would not be the first time that his recklessness and over active pie hole has created chaos and hurt the prospects of his own agenda. In fact, that is rapidly becoming the hallmark of the Trump presidency. Everything he touches turn to – let’s say shiitake mushrooms (unless that’s too close a reference to his genitals). Trump is truly his own worst enemy. Even worse than the “enemy of the people,” the media. And this time it’s his favorite media, Fox News, that is sending up the flares.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.