CNN analyst pummels Trump for getting in 'celebrity slap fights' with Colbert and Fallon while kids are in cages

Addressing  President Donald Trump's attacks on late night hosts Stephen Colbert Jimmy Fallon during a rally in South Carolina on Monday night, CNN analyst John Avlon sneered at Trump getting into a battle of words with comedians -- saying the president wants to get people to stop talking about his policies putting immigrant children in cages.

Speaking with host John Harwood, Avlon agreed with CNN regular Michael Smerconish, who claimed Trump's arguments with the comedians was a trivial distraction.

"Let's separate the style from the substance," Avlon began. "I think Smerconish makes a good point about the president wanting to have these sort of celebrity slap fights to distract from the substance. And the substance is really -- you want to talk incivility? Let's talk policies that put kids in cages and separate them from their parents; that's the essence of incivility."

Turning back to the media obsession with Trump petty arguments with celebrities Avlon warned, "Let's make a distinction. We can do both but never let us get distracted from the substance of the policies that get put in place."

Watch the video below via CNN: