After President* Trump first said that he did not blame Paul Ryan for the humiliating defeat of his absolutely terrible health care bill, and then trying to blame Democrats for not participating in a process they were shut out from, and for none of them voting for a bill that went against more or less everything they stand for, he sent out a tweet to recommend people to watch "Justice with Judge Jeanine" on Fox News Saturday 9PM.
The show opened with a broadside against Paul Ryan, throwing all the blame for the bill's failure on him and urging him to resign. At first, this sent a signal that President* Trump has so little pull in the Republican party that he didn't dare criticize Ryan himself, but instead had a friend at Fox News do it for him. This is if course more convenient, but it makes him sound like a back-stabbing bastard. He probably is, but given the precarious circumstances, even he would probably want to hide that, not flaunt it. Probably. It's also slightly strange that the strongly sexist Donald Trump would have a woman do his bidding for him. Slightly.
Sunday morning, Judge Jeanine Pirro announced that she had no contact with the President before the show, and that he couldn't have known what her message would be for the Saturday show. The White House denied any recent contacts between Pirro and the President as well, repeating that the President maintains his trust in Paul Ryan. However, they didn't deny anyone else in the White House having had contact with Pirro.
Fox News is infamous for being on very friendly terms with the Steve Bannon faction in the White House. (Yes, there are factions within the White House, competing for power). Very few big talking points make it to the high profile Trump-friendly shows on Fox News without someone in the White House giving them a friendly nudge in the right direction. Was there a nudge in this case, and in that case, from whom? Having followed this drama the last couple of months, I would venture a guess that it's Steve Bannon.
Update: Paul Ryan later said that the President had approached him and been "very apologetic" for his tweet. That doesn't rule out the possibility that Bannon played him like a fiddle.
