President Donald Trump has taken issue with a conversation on Fox News Thursday morning, which drove him to Twitter to complain about it. The conversation between political strategist Jessica Tarlov appeared on the Fox News segment American’s Newsroom, along with Ed Henry and Sandra Smith
During the conversation, the three spoke about the tearing down of monuments to Confederate soldiers and slave-owners, one of the many ripple effects of ongoing civil rights protests throughout the country. Tarlov was then asked how the removal of these statues would play out for Democrats in the November election. The strategist, and regular Fox News contributor, was particularly cutting in her assessment of Trump’s handling of things, and cited his widely-panned photo op at the St. John’s Episcopal Church. So much so that the president tweeted about it not long after the segment aired.
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A @FoxNews commentator just ripped me with lies, with nobody defending. They talked about the “friendly” protesters (they set the Church on fire the day before. They were anything but friendly), and how I stood and held the Bible upside down – it wasn’t upside down. @edhenry
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 25, 2020
“That majority of Americans are on the side of the protesters, they have [a] negative reaction to the way that President Trump has handled the racial injustice crisis in this country,” Tarlov said in the segment, before discussing the president’s widely-mocked photo op at St. John’s Episcopal Church — along with his ordering that peaceful demonstrators be dispersed with tear gas. “He went out to Lafayette Park with them where they tear-gassed protesters there so he could have a photo in front of a church holding a bible upside down,” Tarlov continued. “[It] went terribly for him.”
The photo op took place on June 1, just after Trump walked to St. John’s Episcopal Church across the street from the White House. Prior to the photo itself, Trump ordered the area to be cleared out, which was done by firing tear gas at peaceful protesters nearby. The actual photo was dragged thoroughly as well, particularly his unusual holding of the book and, of course, the fact that it appeared to be upside-down in one photo. Trump has also been particularly vicious with his own rhetoric toward the protesters, who are calling for widespread police reform and an end to systemic racism — which includes the removal of statues commemorating Confederate soldiers or other slave owners throughout history.
