CNN host Don Lemon said right-wing media are influencing Trump’s decisions, including the one to shut down the federal government over a stalemate with Congress regarding billions in funding for his border wall.
“Republican leaders in Congress thought they had a deal with the president to let everyone go home for the holidays and keep the government funded through February. That’s until Trump apparently got spooked by Ann Coulter and the outrage of right-wing media and blew up his own administration’s deal,” Lemon said in the opening to his show Friday.
Coulter, a conservative commentator and author, has been outspokenly critical on social and traditional media of any retreat from the issue of border wall funding by the president.
“Ann Coulter? Is Ann Coulter running the federal government? President Coulter. Hmm. Has a ring to it,” said Lemon, referring to the president, who had said last week he would be proud to shut the government over border security, released a video Friday placing the blame squarely on Democrats.
Lemon, however, pointed the finger at a few others.
“‘Fox & Friends’? President ‘Fox & Friends’. President Rush Limbaugh? Their comments were enough to get Trump to retreat to his original position, and now he’s trying to blame the Democrats,” Lemon said, referring to the Fox News show the president often watches and the conservative radio talk show host.
Lemon returned to the topic later in the show, pointing to comments made by Sen. Bob Corker on Friday. The Tennessee Republican criticized the president for listening to talk radio hosts’ opinion on the shutdown, calling their influence “tyranny.”
CNN media commentator Brian Stelter said that while he doesn’t agree it’s tyranny, he does blame the shutdown on Limbaugh and Coulter and took a swipe at Fox host Sean Hannity.
“Sean Hannity is off, otherwise it would be the Sean Hannity shutdown. We have heard all year how Hannity and others are the shadow chief of staff,” Stelter said.
