Fox News host Jeanine Pirro defended President Donald Trump and attacked Democrats on her Saturday evening program, characterizing the commander-in-chief as a victim walled inside an ancient fortification with “barbarians storming the gate.”
“For over two years, the presidency of the United States has been under siege,” the controversial conservative host claimed in the opening statement of her show Justice With Judge Jeanine. “Our commander-in-chief has been subjected to unprecedented maligning by the mainstream media, high-level Obama administration officials and disappointed, disgruntled and deranged Democrats,” Pirro lamented.
“It’s as if the White House is an ancient walled city with barbarians storming the gate looking to annihilate the outsider beholding to no one,” the former judge and district attorney continued. “The radicals have been resisting and salivating at the chance to get revenge for their 2016 loss.”
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Pirro, who has consistently been one of Trump’s biggest defenders and supporters, went on to criticize Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi for launching an official impeachment inquiry against Trump last week. She also reiterated the unsubstantiated conspiracy theory that Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden improperly demanded a Ukrainian prosecutor’s removal to protect his son Hunter Biden’s business dealings.
“Game on,” Pirro concluded her opening statement, addressing Democrats and staring ominously into the camera.
Trump has faced growing backlash over the past week due to his actions towards Ukraine. A whistleblower first raised a formal complaint against the president acting improperly back in August. Part of that complaint centered around a call between Trump and Ukraine’s new president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
During that discussion, Trump pressured his counterpart in Kiev to open an investigation into the Bidens. Meanwhile, his administration had temporarily suspended $391 million in military aid to the country for unclear reasons. Support for Ukraine enjoys wide bipartisan support in Congress, as the nation has fought a civil war against Russian-backed separtist rebels since 2015. Republicans and Democrats were concerned when they learned that the White House had temporarily blocked the military fund for the Eastern European nation.
Critics of the president have argued that the aid was suspended as leverage against the Ukrainian government to dig up dirt on Trump’s political opponent. Although that fact has not been established by ongoing investigations, Ukrainian lawmakers have said they were given the impression that Trump’s support for their government would be impacted by whether or not they pursued the probe.
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A summary transcript of Trump’s phone call and a slightly redacted version of the whistleblower complaint were released last week, leading even some Republicans to condemn the president’s actions. As a result, the Democrat-led House of Representatives has opened an official impeachment inquiry.
Trump and his supporters have dismissed the whole controversy as a “witch hunt” and “partisan.” But Republican Senators Mitt Romney of Utah and Ben Sasse of Nebraska have said the president’s actions were “troubling.”
Pirro is one of Fox News’ most controversial hosts, and even saw her show suspended temporarily earlier this year after incendiary remarks she made about Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. According to Media Matters, the host has received more than $230,000 for speaking engagements from Republican groups since Trump took office in January 2017.
Last November, Pirro appeared with fellow Fox News host Sean Hannity at a rally for the president, leading the cable news network to claim it “does not condone any talent participating in campaign events.” Earlier this month, she canceled a slew of GOP-related political events, citing “unexpected circumstances” and a “scheduling conflict.”
*story by NewsWeek