Trump interrupts meeting with Cabinet member to dial Fox host for advice

“Hold that thought, I need to call a Fox News weekend host for legislative advice.”

If you’re a member of the Trump Cabinet, be prepared to hear those words the next time you have an Oval Office meeting. That’s basically what happened to embattled Veterans Affairs secretary David Shulkin.

Summoned to the White House to discuss legislative options for how to fix the agency, Axios reports, “Trump surprised Shulkin by dialing in Fox & Friends host Pete Hegseth on speaker phone to get his opinion of the legislation.”

“Trump talks to Hegseth regularly and enjoys watching him on Fox and Friends,” according to Axios.

Not only does Trump seem to have a shadow cabinet of sorts, which he consults freely for advice, but many of those cabinet members appear to work at the chronically hateful and untrustworthy Fox News. Hegseth is just the latest reveal.

Just last week, seeking refuge from the Stormy Daniels scandal, Trump invited Fox News host Jesse Watters to dinner. Watters a history of racism and stalking. He also once made a sexual “joke” about Ivanka Trump, after which he took a sudden “vacation” from his show.

Trump’s outside advisers also include irrational Fox News hosts like Jeanine Pirro and Sean Hannity. Last year, when dealing with the intricacies of the Iran nuclear deal, Trump reportedly called Hannity for insights. Keep in mind, Hannity dropped out of college to become an AM radio talk show host. Yet that’s who Trump turns to for sensitive policy advice on foreign affairs.

This year, Trump once again turned to Hannity during the roll-out of the GOP’s doomed Nunes memo.

“According to three sources with knowledge of their conversations, Trump has been in regular contact with Hannity over the phone in recent weeks, as the Fox News prime-time star and Trump ally has encouraged the prompt release of a controversial four-page memo crafted by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee. Hannity has gone to the wall to push for the public release of the memo,” the Daily Beast reported.

Ultimately, Trump followed Hannity’s advice and the whole thing flopped.

The GOP’s wildly overhyped intelligence memo, which was designed to undercut the FBI and special counsel Robert Mueller, turned out to be a dud. Not only that, it backfired so completely that it ended up undermining the GOP’s already flimsy case against the Russia probe.

Obviously, as Trump clings to the information bubbles that still hold him in high regard, he remains obsessed with Fox News, which serves as part of the propaganda machine propping up his presidency.

While Trump incredulously brags that he can hire the best and brightest to work at his White House, in truth he’s interrupting Cabinet secretaries and dialing cable news hosts for advice.