Comedian Kathy Griffin says President Donald Trump destroyed her career as a distraction from political blowback over his firing of FBI director James Comey.
The president attacked her on Twitter after she posed for a gory photo holding up a bloody mask of Trump's head, which turned out to be far more controversial than she anticipated, reported Politico.
“The photo was on TMZ, then Drudge tweeted it, and then Don Jr. retweeted Drudge,” Griffin told the website. “But the president’s Twitter feed is the greatest programming director ever. The minute he tweeted that tweet about me, it was literally breaking news on every channel.”
Griffin said she experienced firsthand how Trump's tweets create a feedback loop in conservative media.
“His Twitter account is talking directly to Fox News,” she said.
The Emmy Award-winning comedian apologized for the photo, but she was quickly fired from hosting CNN's New Year's Even show and dropped as a celebrity endorser for Squatty Potty.
Griffin was about halfway through a 50-city comedy tour at the time, and the rest of the gigs were canceled -- and she's still unable to book shows in the U.S.
"I think (the controversy) would have been gone in a week without his tweet,” Griffin said. “Trump knows what would be perceived as something hysterical and he loves hysteria. There are millions of people who think I’m a member of ISIS to this day.”
Griffin said the timing of Trump's tweet suggests the president stoked outrage against her after the the FBI director's firing blew up in his face.
“It was very soon after the Comey firing,” Griffin said. “He absolutely used me as a tool to distract from his bad news of the day.”
