While President Trump publicly claims there shouldn’t be coverage of the impeachment proceedings because his call with Ukraine was “perfect,” in private he can’t stop devouring coverage of the inquiry, Politico reported.
Trump’s mainly been gobbling up spin from friendly sources, with favorites being Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham and Tucker Carlson, whose commentary on the impeachment probe Trump’s taken a particular liking to, according to Politico.
The President is reportedly closely monitoring Republican reactions to the latest Ukraine-impeachment news. Trump has become increasingly frustrated in recent weeks that there’s been coverage of the closed-door depositions taking place in the House, arguing that the testimony shouldn’t “have to be covered at all,” a White House official told Politico.
“We’re getting fucking killed,” Trump reportedly complains daily about coverage of the inquiry. “He does make that comment literally every day,” a Republican close to Trump told Politico.
The belief that the depositions shouldn’t be covered at all is apparently common inside the White House, with one official telling Politico that they should either be public or there should not be leaks to the media. Trump is reportedly particularly annoyed with former or current aides who were on the Ukraine call and have testified before Congress “pretending they know what he meant” on the call.
“We should have no speculative coverage of what’s going on inside these private briefings, according to the very people who keep it private,” a White House official told Politico. “Either let everybody see what’s happening as it happens or keep your mouth shut.”
