Former U.S. President Donald Trump has launched a stinging public criticism of former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, using a vivid metaphor to mock her role in the high-profile case of a former Olympian charged with defacing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. In a public statement, Trump compared Pirro’s handling of the situation to a folding umbrella, implying she caved quickly under pressure and failed to stand by the narrative that had been pushed around the case.
The case took an unexpected turn recently when federal prosecutors officially dropped all criminal charges against the former Olympic athlete, who had been accused of vandalizing the iconic National Mall landmark. Prosecutors did not dispute that damage occurred at the site, but they placed the blame squarely on third-party contractors, pointing to the contractors’ rushed and shoddy construction work as the actual cause of the damage visible at the Reflecting Pool.
The dismissal of charges has sent ripples through political and media circles, with Trump taking the opportunity to lash out at Pirro, who had previously amplified claims supporting the vandalism accusation against the former Olympian. The sudden collapse of the case has also sparked new questions about how the accusation was initially brought forward, and the role of media figures and political actors in shaping public perception of the incident before all evidence was fully examined.