President Donald Trump took time out of his busy schedule leading the United States to defend Tomi Lahren, an unfortunate victim of getting a drink thrown at her while leaving brunch at a Minneapolis, MN restaurant last weekend.
The 25-year-old Fox News pundit and professional conservative provocateur — whose greatest hits include things like defending the Second Amendment by taking a picture with a gun tucked inside her yoga pants and comparing the Black Lives Matter movement to the Ku Klux Klan, safety measures and historical facts be damned — addressed the incident during a Fox & Friends segment Wednesday morning.
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"You don’t have to agree with my political opinions, but you don’t have the right to throw things at me," Lahren said. "It’s really disheartening. But again, I’m tough. I can handle it."
The president, the #1 fan of Fox & Friends, ran to Lahren's defense on his favorite medium. He tweeted: "Everybody is with Tomi Lahren, a truly outstanding and respected young woman! @foxandfriends."
Everybody is with Tomi Lahren, a truly outstanding and respected young woman! @foxandfriends
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 23, 2018
That's nice and all, until you consider Trump didn't even acknowledge the existence of real life hero James Shaw Jr., the man who wrestled a AR-15 away from the shooter at a Waffle House in Antioch, TN last month.
The president did call Shaw — a full 22 days after the incident. The 29-year-old said the phone conversation was "lackluster."
Considering that Trump's tweets should be taken as "official statements," per former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, it's curious that the president didn't even find the time to send a quick note to Shaw on Twitter. After all, Shaw embodied the idea of what Trump has said he would do if he ever was to confront an active shooter: heroically storm into a place and stop the bad guy, even without a gun of his own.
But at the same time, it's not exactly surprising that Trump has been distracted by something — or someone — shiny instead of paying attention to what actually matters. Last year, he spent a good amount of energy tweeting about the NFL's national anthem controversy instead of focusing his attention on hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico. Per Politico, the lack of tweets about the U.S. territory signaled to bureaucrats that the island was not a priority for an emergency response — and we know what happened next.
It's unfortunate that Lahren got splashed in the arm with what looks a lot like water, but maybe the president should rethink his priorities if he thinks it merits giving his attention to her instead of people who actually deserve it.