Jimmy Fallon should learn this Trump feud lesson: Downplaying political toxicity to maintain neutrality is outdated

Variety

President Trump's feud with Jimmy Fallon is bizarre, says Caroline Framke, because Fallon came across as defiant in his Hollywood Reporter interview expressing regret for his infamous Donald Trump hair-tousling Tonight Show interview. Fallon missed the point of the criticism of the interview, says Framke, noting that "he still doesn’t seem to understand why" it upset so many people. "Given the level of defiance Fallon shows in this interview towards his critics," she adds, "it’s frankly bizarre that Trump is using it to lash out at him now for 'whimpering.' But as he showed on The Apprentice years before he hit the campaign trail, Trump thrives on petty fights no matter what the context. He doesn’t care about accuracy. He just cares about finding and exploiting a target, and if he can insult their masculinity (as he did by telling Fallon to 'be a man!' via Twitter), all the better." As she points out, civility is impossible when it comes to Trump. "So when even the mildest of rebukes can provoke a presidential tantrum, you might as well take a stand," she says.

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