David Gregory Blasts Trump for Obsessing Over Press Criticism at Coronavirus Briefing: ‘Consumed With Ego and Insecurity’
CNN’s David Gregory contrasted the refusal to admit any mistakes and thin-skinned attacks on the press by President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly referred to himself as a “wartime president,” with the historic D-Day leadership of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who preemptively assumed all the blame should the pivotal World War II invasion of Normandy have been an utter failure.
Gregory’s comments came after yet another bizarre, self-defensive performance by Trump at Monday’s coronavirus task force briefing, where he spent the first 40 minutes ignoring the ongoing public health crisis and instead lashed out at criticism of his administration’s at-times chaotic COVID-19 response and insulted reporters who pointed out holes in his narrative. Speaking with CNN host Don Lemon, the former Meet the Press anchor pointed out the flaw and contradictions in this president’s narrative.
“Is the president losing focus here on what really matters?” Lemon asked Gregory. ” Imean, really, Americans’ lives are what matters, testing, mitigation, getting more PPE, that’s what the focus should be. He should come out, tell the American people where we are and where we’re going.”
“Well, and take responsibility instead of just assert authority,” Gregory responded, alluding to another Trump false claim from Monday’s briefing. “You know, the president has said that he’s a ‘wartime leader,’ and it got me thinking about Dwight Eisenhower at D-Day and the note that he wrote that if the landings had failed. That he would say that iff there’s blame, ‘it is mine alone.'”
“So it’s appalling,” Gregory continued. “The president, to me, if you really pick apart this briefing today, this is a temperament issue. You can agree or disagree with his decision-making. You can say, ‘Wow, he really missed weeks here, missed some opportunities, maybe it costs lives but let’s move forward.’ But what you see out of the president is what Gloria [Borger] alludes to, this is a temperament issue where he’s consumed with ego and insecurity and people saying bad things about him.”
“By the way, he’s not the first president to deal with an annoying press corps that constantly asking you questions andolding you accountable and bringing up your previous words against you,” Gregory pointed out. “As Tim Russert would say when I worked at NBC when I worked for him: ‘Any leader worth his or her salt can take the tough question. Not this president. Not with his temperament. Not with that lack of responsibility and defensiveness.”
Watch the video above, via CNN.
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