For someone as prolific in his Twitter usage as
Donald Trump, it takes a particularly deranged day online to register on the political Richter scale. The president had just such a day and then some on Sunday, firing off a wild, 32-tweet rant over the course of several hours on a range of topics. The tirade, much of which was in direct response to whomever was speaking on TV, was peppered with self-pitying laments about perceived slights against him and provided a real-time glimpse into the president’s fraying psyche.
It’s unclear what, exactly, prompted the tweet storm—his favorite Fox News programs coming under fire? Anxiety about the anticipated release of Robert Mueller’s report? Some bad corned beef?—but Trump cast a wide net on Sunday, beginning his morning by grousing about a Saturday Night Live rerun he found “not funny” because it always makes fun of “the same person (me).” He followed this up with several attacks on the late John McCain; railed against Shep Smith and other Fox hosts he doesn’t like; called on the network to defend Tucker Carlson and Jeanine Pirro, two hosts he does like; engaged in some anti-immigrant fear-mongering, mere days after a far-right terrorist who espoused similar rhetoric murdered dozens of Muslims in New Zealand; and, of course, raged against the Mueller probe.
