Fox News hosts blast Trump over 'repulsive' White House plaques

Donald Trump got a sharp rebuke from his Fox News on Friday as hosts decried the recent addition of insulting plaques about Democratic presidents at the White House as "trolling" and "repulsive."

While not the largest and eye-catching change Trump has made to the White House, his addition of a "Presidential Walk of Fame" has nonetheless made headlines for insulting jabs at his political opponents. When the feature was first introduced in September, former President Joe Biden was represented with a photo of an autopen instead of a portrait, referencing the tool for signatures which Trump has falsely claimed invalidates some of the executive orders and pardons that his predecessor issued.

More recently, reporters noticed the addition of new plaques beneath the photos of Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. Under Biden's photo, the new plaque reads "Sleepy Joe Biden was, by far, the worst President in American History. Taking office as a result of the most corrupt Election ever seen in the United States, Biden oversaw a series of unprecedented disasters that brought our Nation to the brink of destruction." It also added references to Trump's long-debunked claim that Biden's win in the 2020 election was the result of widespread voter fraud.

The new plaque for Obama refers to him as "divisive" and attacks him for the passage of the "Unaffordable Care Act" and joining the Paris Climate Accords. It also repeated Trump's unfounded claims that the Obama administration spied on his 2016 campaign and fabricated claims that it colluded with Russia. While less directly insulting, Clinton's plaque was given a new note about his wife, Hillary Clinton, losing the 2016 election to Trump.

During a Friday broadcast, Fox News anchor Brian Kilmeade said that he was not in favor of these changes and suggested that Trump's two plaques add bits of mockery to balance things out.“

No, I’m not for this at all,” Kilmeade said. “So they’ve got to mock President Trump or put something on his plaque... I am not for the autopen. If [Trump] is going to do it outdoors, just put the profiles up there. I am not for dispelling or saying anything bad. Plus, a lot of presidents that people think were bad, ended up being looked at as great. I don’t think it’s going to happen with Joe Biden. But I am not for the trolling."

One of Kilmeade's co-anchors, Jessica Tarlov, agreed with his sentiments, calling the new plaques "repulsive behavior."