Fox News’ senior judicial analyst and former judge Andrew Napolitano doesn’t see a bright future ahead for President Donald Trump ― and his view of Trump’s recent past is even dimmer.
In an opinion column published on the Fox website late Wednesday, Napolitano assessed Trump’s phone call with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on July 25, 2019, in which Trump asked Zelensky “do him a favor” immediately after mentioning U.S. aid to the country.
Trump had ordered the aid withheld from Ukraine just days before the phone call, though it had already been appropriated by Congress.
“That conversation manifested both criminal and impeachable behavior,” Napolitano wrote. “The criminal behavior to which Trump has admitted is much more grave than anything alleged or unearthed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and much of what Mueller revealed was impeachable.”
In addition to the call itself, Napolitano also took issue with Trump’s personal conduct since the allegations came to light via a whistleblower report in late September.
Trump has accused the unidentified whistleblower of treason and amplified statements saying his impeachment would lead to a “Civil War-like fracture.”
“The president’s allusions to violence are palpably dangerous,” wrote Napolitano. “They will give cover to crazies who crave violence, as other intemperate words of his have done.”
“This language is a dog whistle to the deranged,” he added.
Napolitano is one of the few Fox personalities to consistently call out some of Trump’s more outrageous behavior. The fracture between Fox’s news and opinion sides spilled into the open last week when Tucker Carlson and host Shepard Smith traded barbs over Napolitano’s insights.