Fox News was dragged online after suggesting critics of the renovated reflecting pool, which has been plagued by pond scum, were suffering from “Algae Derangement Syndrome.”
During a Friday segment for “The Ingraham Angle,” which was labeled “Algae Derangement Syndrome” and documented left-leaning media’s coverage of the polluted pool, guest host Lisa Boothe pondered why people were “so obsessed with this.”
“It must’ve been a slow news day in Washington, D.C.,” her guest chimed in, “because you had so many – as you just saw – reporters heading to the reflecting pool. I think that they are obsessed with it because they want to embarrass President Trump.”
He continued: “Now, president Trump is not the first … there have been presidents dating back years who’ve tried to fix the reflecting pool. Barack Obama, by the way, spent about $34 million, $20 million more than Donald Trump did. And yet, they didn’t cover that at all.”
Boothe’s guest then blamed Trump Derangement Syndrome – which, for the record, is not a medically recognized psychological condition – for the outcry. Watch the moment below.
Of course, the fiery rhetoric inspired a big reaction online, with the segment getting clipped and shared on X Friday evening. It didn’t take long for Trump’s critics to sound off in the comments, with one X user even writing, “The bottom line is the whole damn pool is polluted with algae and blue paint. It will cost another $20 million to fix up Trump’s $14 million f–k up.”
Another chimed in with, “Trump doesn’t need our help embarrassing himself.” A third wrote, “We are obsessed with it? MAGA spent two months doing nothing but posting pictures of one algae bloom from 2012. MAGA is a joke.”
“Fox had no problem with people talking about the reflecting pool everyday when the work was been done,” a fourth critic sounded off. “Now that it has turned out to be a complete failure they want everyone to stop talking about it.”
A representative for Fox News did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
However, there does seem to be a growing fascination with the algae-riddled reflecting pool. Not only did Jimmy Kimmel roast it on his show earlier this week, but tourists have started to peel off pieces to take as souvenirs.
CNN correspondent Tom Foreman reported on Friday witnessing this very thing at the famed Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, noting on-air, “There have been tourists coming along, tearing off pieces to take as souvenirs … Now, did they cause this problem? I don’t know, maybe. Did they exacerbate it? Maybe. And we don’t have proof, exactly that that is the sealant we’re talking about. But it sure looks like it.”
