Donald Trump and his administration’s inability to just condemn white supremacy and domestic terrorist groups straight out is extraordinary. One the one hand, it isn’t surprising because Trump’s administration is as clear an example of white supremacist leadership as our country has seen in the modern era. On the other hand, it is surprising that they continue to try and parse language and pigheadedly refuse to do it from an optics stand point. On a third hand, it isn’t surprising that the Trump administration and the people in the administration are stubborn, incompetent, and unwilling to offend white supremacists.
During Thursday’s bizarre White House press briefing, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany once again danced strangely, combatively, and confusingly around the question of why Trump and this administration just can’t say “white supremacy is bad.” For many Republicans, this isn’t an issue of morality—it’s an issue of optics. Trump’s steadfast refusal to just lie and say he condemns white supremacy when he is willing to and does lie about just about anything else is … frustrating. Fox News correspondent John Roberts is finally fed up—at least with the right-wing nut jobs attacking him for asking some softball questions of the press secretary. During a live segment on Fox News that was chyroned “White House Press Secretary Defends President’s Comments On Far-Right Extremist Groups At Debate,” Roberts went off-script, and it was fun to watch.
JOHN ROBERTS: And for all of you on Twitter for asking that question, I don’t care. Because it’s a question that needs to be asked, and clearly the president’s Republican colleagues, a mile away from here, are looking for an answer for it, too. So stop deflecting, stop blaming the media!
There is some other Fox News personality hosting the show, clearly watching some off-screen producer wave their hands to move on from this segment. She seems a bit speechless, and Roberts, after a breath, says: “I’m tired of it.” She creatively finds her out here: “All right, John Roberts is tired of it, let’s ...” and goes off to sell pillows or gold or whatever their three commercial interests are selling these days.