Michael Avenatti pummels 'petulant child' Trump over threat to investigate the New York Times

Attorney Michael Avenatti mocked President Donald Trump's investigation into the senior official in the Trump administration who wrote an anonymous New York Times editorial questioning the commander-in-chief's fitness for office.

Avenatti represents Stormy Daniels, the adult film mogul who has claimed having an affair with Donald Trump while he was married to his third wife, Melania.

"I want to get the reaction for the president calling on A.G. [Jeff] Sessions at least opining to investigate The New York Times, is there a scenario where that is legally possible?" MSNBC anchor Alex Witt asked. "And also the process of administering lie detector tests to administration staffers?"

"Well, I think it's ridiculous," Avenatti replied.

"You know, it's more of the same from this petulant child of a president," he continued.

"What we have is President Trump more interested in trying to find out the individual in his administration that wrote an op-ed piece, than he is as it relates to getting to the bottom of the Russia interference in our electoral process," Avenatti continued.

The attorney, who is exploring a 2020 bid for president on the Democratic Party ticket, worried about how parents are teaching their children about the White House.

"Frankly, I don't think there's been any point in time in the last 100 years in this nation where so much disrespect has been brought to the office of the presidency," he argued.

"Men and women across this country, fathers and mothers, used to be able to point to the President of the United States as someone that should be respected and as a role model to their children," Avenatti noted. "Those days have long ended now and at some point, we need to restore respect back to the office of the presidency."

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