President Trump is taking a toll on journalists and political commentators, some of whom are watching angrily as Trump dives into healthcare and foreign policy, while others admit that covering Trump may be affecting their health.
ABC “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” host Jimmy Kimmel, who has risen as a prominent voice in the healthcare debate, was angry this week over Trump and Republicans’ latest attempt to repeal Obamacare. He called the new Graham-Cassidy healthcare bill a “scam” that he said is supported by Republicans who “eight years ago … didn’t want anyone to have healthcare at all.”
In his opening monologue, Kimmel also threatened a Fox News host who had previously accused Kimmel of being one of the “Hollywood elites” who are “pushing their politics on the rest of the country.”
Calling Brian Kilmeade a “phony little creep,” Kimmel said, “I’ll pound you when I see you.”
Last weekend, liberal Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank said Trump’s presidency is literally “killing” him.
Milbank said in an op-ed that he’s been suffering “fatigue, headaches, poor sleep, even some occasional chest pain.” He said that he was healthy before, but now, “eight months into Trump’s presidency, I was suddenly ailing.”
The Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan said in her column published last Friday that she felt better about politics while dreaming about an alternate universe in which Trump and Hillary Clinton were more gracious and humble.
“I saw much of it while anesthetized for a minor surgical procedure,” she said. “For an hour afterward, even knowing it was either a fantasy or a dream, I felt so … hopeful. Cheerful. Proud.”
Trump last month pardoned Joe Arpaio, the controversial former Arizona sheriff who a judge found in contempt for violating a court order to stop detaining people suspected of being illegal immigrants.
“I’m anxious,” wrote liberal New York Times columnist Charles Blow in response. “I wish that I could take a reprieve from politics … But, alas, I cannot. Politics keep creeping in.”
Just days ago, MSNBC host Katy Tur said in her new book that watching Trump win the election made her want to “throw up.”
“My head is a helium balloon. Breathe,” Tur wrote in her book about her reaction to hearing that Trump was planning victory rallies. “The panic mounts. More rallies? I am nearly falling over. More taunting crowds, more around-the-clock live shots, more airports, more earsplitting Pavarotti … I can’t. I just can’t.”
Even some of Trump’s former staffers appear to be feeling the strain from the hostile political environment.
On Thursday, well-known Washington reporter Mike Allen of Axios said in his daily newsletter that he attempted to contact former White House press secretary Sean Spicer, who he says he’s known for a dozen years, for comment on a story Allen was writing. Spicer replied with a threat.
“From a legal standpoint I want to be clear,” Spicer said in a text message, according to Allen. “Do not email or text me again. Should you do again I will report to the appropriate authorities.”
