Trump campaign calls on CNN to fire Joe Lockhart after he suggested POTUS had 'stroke'
'If another CNN employee said similar things about Barack Obama they’d be fired immediately'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Trump campaign is firing back at CNN political analyst Joe Lockhart, who speculated that the president had a "stroke" that he has been hiding from the public.
In a Monday tweet, Lockhart asked, “Did @realDonaldTrump have a stroke which he is hiding from the American public?” after reporting from New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt's forthcoming book, which claims Vice President Mike Pence was "on standby to take over the powers of the presidency temporarily if Trump had to undergo a procedure that would have required him to be anesthetized" during his November 2019 visit to Walter Reed Medical Center.
Trump denied on Twitter that he suffered from "mini-strokes" and the White House physician released a statement saying that the president "remains healthy."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CNN'S JOE LOCKHART ATTACKS SANDMANN AS 'SNOT NOSE ENTITLED KID' AFTER NETWORK'S DEFAMATION SUIT
However, a statement issued by the Trump campaign is calling on Lockhart to be held responsible for theorizing about the president's health.
“CNN should fire Joe Lockhart, a lifetime failure who thought it was a great idea for fellow loser Michael Dukakis to put on that stupid helmet, for knowingly pushing a conspiracy theory about President Trump’s health," the campaign said. "Great political expert that he is, Lockhart single-handedly sank the John Kerry campaign and now he’s doing the same to Joe Biden from a distance."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The campaign continued, "If another CNN employee said similar things about Barack Obama they’d be fired immediately, so the same standard should be applied here. That is, of course, unless CNN is complicit in the smear campaign in order to level the playing field against Joe Biden, somebody who truly has lost a step.”
CNN'S JOE LOCKHART SUGGESTS HURRICANE LAURA HITTING GULF COAST IS 'KARMA'
CNN did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Lockhart is no stranger to controversial tweets. Last week, the CNN analyst suggested that "karma" was involved in the trajectory of Hurricane Laura as it approached Texas and Louisiana.
The outspoken former Clinton press secretary also raised eyebrows for attacking former Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann after his network settled a $250 million defamation lawsuit earlier this year.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I'm watching tonight because it's important. But i [sic] don't have to watch this snot nose entitled kid from Kentucky," Lockhart tweeted.
Fox News' Brian Flood contributed to this report.