Republican Strategist Has a Hard Time Defending Trump’s New Bathroom During Shutdown

Republican strategist Shermichael Singleton demurred when asked what he thought about the “optics” of President Donald Trump’s marble bathroom makeover as Americans are hurting over the government shutdown that’s entering its second month.

“President Trump unveiling more changes to the White House today,” Began anchor Boris Sanchez. “Posting on Truth Social that he renovated the Lincoln bathroom because the Art Deco style was inappropriate for the Lincoln era.”

Sanchez then needled the conservative. “Shermichael, the optics of this during a government shutdown,” he said. “That’s a lot of marble and gold.”

“You know, look, I don’t have a problem with gold, but I would probably say to the president, ‘Let’s just politically get over this little moment and then we can go back to making all the changes you want to make,” Singleton said, looking sheepish. “I do worry, however, if we give our Democratic friends something to sort of use against us. I don’t want to do that!”

Liberal guest Adrienne Elrod declared, “Billionaire tech CEOs are paying for this while the government’s shut down. And millions of Americans aren’t getting their SNAP benefits, and millions of Americans may not get health care.”

“I am partial to the green tile. Jonah, are you?” Sanchez quipped to conservative journalist Jonah Goldberg.

Goldberg invoked former Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes to illustrate his point.

“Look, Roger Ailes, who was an interesting person, one of his rules about how to judge talent on TV and TV shows in general was, he would watch them with the sound off. And this is the kind of story that people can watch with the sound off when they’re walking through the airport, or they’re at a bar, and it resonates with normal people who don’t know what a ‘clean CR’ is, who don’t know, and it just comes through,” Goldberg said.

He added that “the messaging and body language” of Trump’s construction projects have been “wildly off.”

“Yeah, it’s a great bathroom. I wish it was in my house,” joked Lulu Garcia-Navarro of The New York Times. “By the way, if any billionaires want to pay for my bathroom renovation, I might be here for it.”

Goldberg then dropped a bomb, saying, “Why was Art Deco historically inappropriate for the Lincoln bathroom but ‘Miami condo, cocaine and hooker party —'”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” admonished Sanchez.

Watch the clip above via CNN.

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