Fox News host Martha MacCallum defends Trump by banging lunch against wall

Immediately after the first hour of last-minute testimony by Cassidy Hutchinson, former assistant to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Tuesday before the Jan. 6 committee, Fox News political chief Bret Baier said without a doubt the Revelations about Donald Trump’s actions later that day in 2021 were both “stunning” and “competitive

“All of this is firsthand, which is what she sounds like from her,” Baier added. “That’s why it’s so compelling. And that’s maybe why we had this hearing that came out of nowhere.”

But just moments later, his colleague Martha MacCallum seemed to undermine that characterization, dismissing details about Trump’s demonstrably outrageous behavior as “not entirely out of character.”

While MacCallum said that Hutchinson seems “very credible” and seems to have a “great memory” for what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, she wasn’t quite sure if it tells the American people anything new about Trump.

“All of this is obviously compelling, it’s very dramatic, it’s clearly been a very difficult day for her and everyone involved and everyone who witnessed it,” she continued. “But the question is, in terms of the Justice Department, is it even moving the ball on any legal action that might pursue them?”

When her colleague Sandra Smith told the story of Trump throwing his lunch plate against the wall in frustration after the Secret Service refused to let him take part in the Capitol riots, complete with ketchup dripping off the wall, MacCallum said : “I’m not sure it really shocks anyone that the President, just knowing what we’ve seen, has watched him over the years when he got angry that he might throw his lunch.”

While it’s a “very dramatic detail,” she said, “I’m not sure any of this is completely out of character for Donald Trump and President Trump, who people have come to know over the years. And there are a lot of people out there who obviously share his feelings of frustration as the days go by.”

MacCallum did not say whether it was “typical” for Trump to grab the steering wheel from the backseat of his presidential limousine or “to fall on the throat” of his senior Secret Service agent, as Hutchinson also testified Tuesday.