White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers has attacked ABC's 'The View' after co-host Joy Behar claimed on the 23 July episode that President Donald Trump is 'jealous' of former President Barack Obama. The remarks followed Trump's accusation the previous day that Obama had 'tried to lead a coup' and committed 'treason'.
Behar responded on the show by saying: 'The thing about him is he's so jealous of Obama, because Obama is everything that he is not: Trim, smart, handsome, happily married, and can sing Al Green's song “Let's Stay Together” better than Al Green. And Trump cannot stand it.'
Rogers retaliated with a statement to Variety, calling Behar 'an irrelevant loser suffering from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome' and suggesting her show could be 'the next to be pulled off air'. The spokesperson also referenced 'The View's' ratings hitting an 'all-time low', though a show representative countered that the programme is actually 'up in total viewers' and 'ranking No. 1 in households and total viewers among all network daytime talk shows and news programs for the fifth straight season'.
Trump has recently been critical of several talk show hosts, following the cancellation of Stephen Colbert's 'The Late Show' by CBS. He previously boasted that Jimmy Kimmel's ABC late night show would be 'next to go', to which Kimmel replied on Instagram: 'I'm hearing you're next. Or maybe it's just another wonderful secret.' The phrase 'wonderful secret' alludes to a Wall Street Journal story from 17 July claiming Trump sent a letter to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003.
