Former President Donald Trump’s scorched earth attitude toward miscreants and malcontents who benefitted from his administration triggered Alyssa Farah Griffin and garnered pushback from “hostile” Fox News anchor Bret Baier.
(Video: CNN)
The second part of Trump’s interview with the host premiered Tuesday night and, in addition to some questionable comments about his classified documents case, featured the president taking his GOP and diet GOP opposition to task.
Griffin’s name was in the mix and CNN’s Anderson Cooper gave her an opportunity to address the remarks on “Anderson Cooper 360,” as he introduced the clip, “Your name came up in Bret Baier’s interview with the former president on Fox on Monday.”
“Something happens. When people leave, they can like me very much. I have this woman named Alyssa Farah,” Trump said of the former communications director. “She said the greatest things long after she left. ‘He’s the greatest president we’ve ever had. He was unbelievable, unbelievable.’ Then ‘The View’ offered her a contract, but obviously only if she changed her views and all of a sudden she can say negative things. Money gets offered to people and some people change.”
After Cooper remarked on the president’s “weird” breathing, Griffin signaled her virtue with a “simple fact pattern” suiting the narrative that Trump had supposedly committed wrongdoing the day the U.S. Capitol was breached.
“Just as a simple fact pattern. I was on Fox News on Jan. 7 — the day after Jan.6 — 2021, where I denounced him and said he was unfit for office and should resign. And I’ve done that every day since. Didn’t join ‘The View’ until nearly two years later,” she argued.
“But Donald Trump doesn’t seem to understand that those of us who served in his administration, we swore an oath to the Constitution,” the political commentator went on. “We did not swear an oath of loyalty to Donald Trump. I would never swear one to any politician and I think he needs to realize we don’t owe him anything.”
Griffin’s perspective was not overlooked by the 2024 presidential candidate who, having criticized a litany of former administration figures that included his Vice President Mike Pence, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, chiefs of staff John Kelly and Mick Mulvaney and press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, turned his ire against his primary opponents and Fox News itself.
“Why would I let these people take shots at me?” Trump said of the first primary debate scheduled for Aug. 23 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, hosted by Fox News.
“So you haven’t made your definitive decision on the primary?” Baier asked.
“No, I haven’t, but I do say, why would I allow a hostile network — Fox, you know, pretty hostile — why would I allow-” the president continued as the anchor interrupted, “You get a fair shake.”
(Video: Fox News)
“This is a fair interview,” the onetime commander-in-chief contended, “but it’s hostile. It’s on the hostile side. I wouldn’t say it’s a puff piece but that’s okay.”
“Hey Bret, why would I allow a hostile network and then allow people that are polling at zero, they’re polling at zero, many of these guys. One of them is zero with an arrow left. Now I think that’s a mistake,” he continued, returning to the polling data.
“So why would I allow people at one or two percent — and zero percent — to be hitting me with questions,” Trump fired back at Baier.
Despite his own reticence, the president provided an example as to why when the interviewer had challenged him on the perceived turncoats from his administration and asked “So why did you hire all of them in the first place?”
To that, Trump answered in defense, “Because I hired 10-1 that were fantastic.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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