In a brief flash of self-awareness, Fox & Friends’ Brian Kilmeade admitted on Monday that President Donald Trump might be too invested in what “people in the media” think about him, and that the president’s unwavering attention to said people might be getting in the way of his ability to be the president of the United States.
During the segment, co-host Steve Doocy quoted Trump’s recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, along with Trump’s comment that he’s heard racist conservative commentator Ann Coulter has “become very hostile” and wondering if he “didn’t return her phone call or something.” Kilmeade rolled his eyes at Coulter having called Trump a “wimp” after losing his border wall standoff last week, going on to say, “I just think the president cares way too much about people in the media.”
“He’s president. He’s not a candidate,” Kilmeade said. “He’s got to make some tough decisions, and he is not an absolute monarch.”
What insightful commentary from the network which for years now has kowtowed to power-hungry conservatives who’ve used their time on Fox News to get in front of Trump—and has, until recently, stayed out of the president’s line of fire in his frequent attacks on journalists.
Kilmeade’s light finger-wagging at Trump comes a day after the president tweeted about Fox News White House correspondent John Roberts and correspondent Gillian Turner over their coverage of his reopening of the government and cave on his demand of $5.7 billion for a U.S.-Mexico border wall. On Twitter, Trump quipped that he “never thought [he]’d say this] but I think [Roberts, Turner, and Fox News] have even less understanding of the Wall negotiations than the folks at FAKE NEWS CNN & NBC!”
Mediaite noted that it’s unclear what exactly Trump was responding to in his criticism of the Fox News reporters, but that it followed a Fox News panel discussion involving Roberts and Turner over the shutdown and its loser (namely Trump), whom Turner said “fell on his sword” for the wall.
So much for staying in your dear president’s good graces, Fox News. Perhaps it’s time to give it up and consider doing your jobs for once, especially as this all could be happening again very soon.