A brief segment on Fox News Thursday night unleashed fury in President Donald Trump.
It wasn’t a very notable clip, but apparently Trump watched it, and it set him off. It featured A.B. Stoddard, a conservative commentator opposed to the president, repeating on host Neil Cavuto’s show the conventional wisdom that, despite his 2016 victory, Trump frequently did not perform well in the presidential debates.
“I think that Donald Trump had disastrous debate performances,” Stoddard said. “Many answers were so cringeworthy you just couldn’t even believe he was still standing on the stage.”
She was actually discussing the recent Democratic primary debate and New York City Michael Bloomberg’s poor performance. But Trump struggles to let even mild insults go.
So, naturally, he lashed out on Twitter:
Could somebody at @foxnews please explain to Trump hater A.B. Stoddard (zero talent!) and @TeamCavuto, that I won every one of my debates, from beginning to end. Check the polls taken immediately after the debates. The debates got me elected. Must be Fox Board Member Paul Ryan!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 20, 2020
But he didn’t stop there. Hours later, at a rally in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Trump was still fuming about Stoddard’s off-hand comment.
He began reading a series of numbers and percentages — supposedly polls, but who can be sure? — that were meant to contradict Stoddard.
“She said Donald Trump didn’t do well in the debates!” he said. “See, they’re fake news!”
Watch clips of his remarks below:
Trump is still mad about a Fox News guest who criticized him a number of hours ago pic.twitter.com/aMiO7VNCSX
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 21, 2020
Trump is so shook by that Fox News segment criticizing his debate performance that he's devoted about 15 minutes of his rally in Colorado Springs to whining about it. pic.twitter.com/GVgqR3Xb4R
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 21, 2020
