CNN’s Abby Phillip Accuses Trump of Calling Press Conference Just to Show Off Bonkers Pool Chart

CNN anchor Abby Phillip accused President Donald Trump of calling the press in for a signing event just so he could regale them with a chart showing the size of the Reflecting Pool.

Trump called an audible on Wednesday when he summoned the press pool for an Oval Office event that was originally closed to the press — and opened with seven solid minutes about the Reflecting Pool project.

On Wednesday night’s edition of CNN NewsNight, Phillip hosted a panel that included Bakari Sellers, Batya Ungar-Sargon, Sarah Matthews, Jason Rantz, and Ana Navarro.

When Rantz objected to the idea that the project is a major priority for Trump, Phillip pushed back:

SELLERS: Oh, and the arch, and then you have the UFC stadium he’s building, like none of that drives down prices. None of that keeps Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. None of that is actually the eye on the ball of what you want the president of the United States to be doing.

And for people who say, you didn’t vote for this, yes, you did. You knew this man had no leadership capability whatsoever when you elected him again. And this is what you get. You get — his top five priorities as he sits here today, he had a whole diagram up with the little swimming pool in the front yard.

And nothing that he does can actually improve the quality of life for most average Americans. Those are his top five priorities.

NAVARRO: So, but it’s been an astounding level of tone deafness week after week, event after event, boondoggle after boondoggle, as the American people are having such a hard time making ends meet. It’s just — you know, it’s the convergence of the two things, the frivolity that’s going on —

SELLERS: The what?

NAVARRO: — and just the frivolity, F-R-I-V-O-L —

PHILLIP: What is those big words?

NAVARRO: Hey, come on. The let them eat cake attitude going on, on frivolous projects on this side, on the White House side, on the Trump side, the grift, the family enrichment. It’s one thing after another after another, the $40 million documentary by Melania —

PHILLIP: Jason, you’re shaking your head. Why are you shaking your head?

NAVARRO: — while people can’t pay for gas.

PHILLIP: Why are you shaking your head?

RANTZ: It’s just because it’s an exaggerated reaction to this. This idea that this is his like the biggest priority is obviously not true. Iran is his biggest priority.

NAVARRO: He walks around —

(CROSSTALKS)

RANTZ: Hold on.

PHILLIP: OK. Wait. Hold on.

RANTZ: The fact that he is responding to —

PHILLIP: Let me ask you a question, though, because he called that Oval Office impromptu press conference today and can you tell me why he did?

RANTZ: Well, he talked to a bunch of reporters, which is something that is kind of important.

PHILLIP: What was the top issue on his mind that caused him to make this —

SELLERS: The swimming pool.

RANTZ: The idea it was —

PHILLIP: It was because he wanted to show the reporters a chart that, by the way, he had shown them before of the size of the reflecting pool compared to skyscrapers.

RANTZ: Yes, I’m —

PHILLIP: Why?

RANTZ: I’m not moved by the fact that the guy who’s interested and obsessed with real estate and projects is actually talking about this. This idea, however —

PHILLIP: So, you acknowledge that he’s obsessed with real estate and projects?

RANTZ: I think that is clearly something that he’s interested in. I’m not arguing that he’s not interested in this. I am, however, arguing that it’s not his top priority. That is the kind of exaggerated reaction that I do think ends up dismissing legitimate concerns that you raise specifically on Iran. So, you can talk about something without it being your number one priority.

PHILLIP: Fair.

RANTZ: We have to acknowledge that.

Watch above via CNN NewsNight.

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