President Donald Trump slammed TV news anchor Abby Phillip for her commentary about the current state of the stock market, which he saw on a recent edition of CNN’s “NewsNight with Abby Phillip,” all while claiming that no one watches the network anymore.
During a recent airing of Phillip’s show on June 27, Phillip cited an assessment from one economist about the record high the stock market reached at the end of the week. The analysis, in part, attributed the rebound to Donald Trump‘s recent announcement that his administration might extend the pause on tariffs.
The White House previously announced earlier this year that tariff increases for several foreign nations would return on July 9, giving federal officials time to negotiate trade deals with other countries. Recent reports state that those talks are still ongoing.
During a recent airing of Phillip’s show, Phillip sat down in a roundtable discussion with several panelists and cited a Wall Street Journal article about where the market stands currently:
“Scott offered one explanation for the highs in the stock market. There are other explanations,” Phillip said. “Here’s one from Jason Furman, an economist. ‘The macro economy is doing decently. He said, especially when it comes to tariffs, the market is now more confident that Trump will back off if necessary.’ He added in April, ‘I think the fear was that he would just plow ahead no matter what. Now, there is a sense that there are realities that he won’t try to blow past.'”
Phillip added her own thoughts on the insights shared in the WSJ article: “It’s hard to argue, Scott [Jennings], that that’s not accurate when just this week, today, they’re saying, oh, that 90-day deadline, we’re just going to push it back out another 90 days. So, the market’s basically saying, oh, OK they’re just going to push it back.”
The anchor later added that, “Maybe you could argue that this is a negotiating tactic that is working, fine. But the truth is Trump is, in fact, backing down and the markets have calmed because of that.”
The president didn’t take kindly to the commentary.
In a late-night post shortly after the NewsNight segment aired, he wrote on TruthSocial: “Where does CNN get its ‘talent?’ Just watched someone named Abby Phillip lecture her audience on Tariffs and the economy (which is doing record business!). She has absolutely no idea what she is talking about, strictly 3rd rate. Fortunately, the audience has long ago left CNN, and it will only get WORSE. LOSERS ALL!!!”
Phillip issued a subtle and cutting clapback at the president that let his rant speak for itself. “Thank you for watching, Mr. President.” The post has since garnered over 2200 comments and over thirty thousand likes compared to Trump’s 1500 comments and twenty-four thousand likes.
Much of the comments were triggered MAGA followers jumping in to defend Trump while Phillip’s supporters sang her praises. One user resurfaced a clip of Trump once again attempting to belittle the CNN reporter during his first campaign where he declared then, “I watch you a lot.”
Some claimed Phillip is not the draw for Trump’s eyeballs, “He watches because of Scott, not because of you.” Others poked fun at the president for once again letting his emotions get the best of him, “Congrats!!! If he’s whining like a 5 yr old, it means you’re doing an outstanding job.”
Watch the segment below starting at 17:33 mark:
