Christian Schneider

Journal Sentinel Opinion

When President Donald Trump surrogate Tomi Lahren appeared on Fox News in July, her onscreen biography listed a very particular set of skills: "Melting Snowflakes."

The "snowflakes" gambit has been a regular part of Lahren's oeuvre for the past year; earlier in 2017, she even hosted her own public-access-worthy "Snowflake Awards" to "honor the nation’s most notable hypersensitive citizens." Those who, "when subjected to the slightest pressures of life, begin to melt."

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On Sunday, Vice President Pence attended an Indianapolis Colts football game, proudly standing and singing America's national anthem before the game. But it appears the sight of several San Francisco 49ers kneeling during the anthem to protest police brutality got the snow-capped VP hot and bothered, so he bolted the game. "I left today's Colts game because @POTUS and I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem," Pence tweeted. Later, President Trump tweeted that he had asked Pence to leave the game if any players kneeled.

It was a publicity stunt of the type normally reserved for the left's theatrically aggrieved. Even worse, it was committed by a fiscal conservative who cost taxpayers an estimated quarter of a million dollars in the process. If Pence wants taxpayers to foot the bill for him to be offended in public, there are far cheaper ways to do so: Given past events, perhaps a train ticket to see Hamilton again would have sufficed.

Just hours before Pence's publicly-funded patriotic proclamation, Trump was melting all over his phone, mocking retiring Sen. Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican, for criticizing his administration. "Senator Bob Corker 'begged' me to endorse him for re-election in Tennessee," Trump tweeted, adding that "I said 'NO' and he dropped out (said he could not win without..."

Later in the day, Corker, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, would call the White House "an adult day care center." In an interview published by The New York Times on Sunday, Corker said Trump was treating the presidency as a "reality show," warning that Trump's threats on Twitter leave America "on the path to World War III."

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Not content to use his political capital where it actually matters, Trump fired back at Corker again on Tuesday, slamming "Liddle' Bob Corker" on Twitter. (Trump reportedly considered Corker for the secretary of state post in his administration, but told people that at 5 feet, 7 inches, Corker was too short to be the nation's top diplomat.)

Of course, Trump's current secretary of State isn't immune to the president's ire, either. Following reports that Rex Tillerson called him a "moron," Trump on Tuesday said he believes he could beat Tillerson in an I.Q. contest.

As if his hypersensitive spats with national government figures weren't enough, Trump inexplicably set out after ESPN SportsCenter host Jemele Hill on Tuesday, accusing her of "tanking" the network's ratings. Hill was suspended on Monday for urging fans on Twitter to boycott the NFL. Previously, Trump press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders had called for Hill's firing when the host referred to the president as a "white supremacist." In doing so, Trump has alienated even those who might agree with him in principle — just what is the U.S. president doing commenting on the hiring and firing practices at a sports network?

One of Trump's most attractive features to his followers is that he's a "straight talker" who doesn't care who he offends. But he's unmasked himself as one of the most thin-skinned, overly-sensitive politicians America has ever seen. If his fans really are interested in "melting snowflakes," they better first make sure there's a water-proof tarp on the floor of the Oval Office.

Christian Schneider is a columnist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, where this piece first appeared. Follow him on Twitter: @Schneider_CM