Greg Gutfeld did what he does best Tuesday in analyzing the federal government's case against Donald Trump, speaking to his Fox News audience by defending the notion the former president is guilty of only being careless or ignorant.
Then in an off the cuff moment of logic and proportion, Gutfeld, speaking as the anchor leg on "The Five" panel, peeled through those layers and got to some truth in the matter - if only for a moment.
"He plays outside the game," Gutfeld said of Trump, as he aimed to explain the root and consequences of Trump's unlawful behavior, as alleged, in video you can watch above. "He doesn't know when to stop. He plays by his own rules. There are risks involved. And this is one of the risks."
Gutfeld shot to the heart of the matter only after exploring more-palatable avenues to Fox News' conservative viewership.
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What was Trump's motivation for egregiously violating the Espionage Act, time and again? He didn't have one, Gutfeld insisted. Instead, his intent was simply behaving as Donald Trump does - the "crime is being Donald Trump."
"Carelessness or ignorance isn't a motive," Gutfeld said. "It could be unlawful violation of a process, but the idea that he had this intent to commit treason is obviously a political line of thinking. The bottom line is, you just can't indict - over carelessness - a president, even if you can. You may be able to do it, but you shouldn't."
Gutfeld weighed in hours after Trump was booked and arraigned on 37 counts related to top-secret classified documents. Trump appeared in a Miami federal court and pleaded not guilty to the charges, which include conspiracy to obstruct justice and willful retention of defense records related to information on a foreign country's nuclear capabilities, communications with a foreign leader and military attacks by a foreign country, among many others.
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"If this indictment has caused some kind of damage - I mean if the crimes that they're indicting him on had caused some kind of damage or some injury, I get it," Gutfeld reasoned, assuming to know that is and was the case.
Gutfeld then circled back to logic that attempted to justify the reality of Trump's worldview - and squared firmly with Fox News' Trump-loving viewership.
"What I find interesting about him is, you know, he stops in a cafe, he plays golf," Gutfeld said. "Do you ever get the feeling that his world is a video game, and he's the main player? And everybody around him trying to make his life hell are NPCs, you know, nonplaying characters who just provide him with challenges. So he just makes it more difficult to see if he can get to the next level."
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Gutfled didn't stop without wielding one of MAGA Republicans' favorite go-to buzzwords.
"And I get it. Politics dictates that you should destroy people. But patriotism would say, 'Don't destroy a president.' Move on. Get on with your life. "
Gutfeld closed things out by putting it all in persepective, saying the issue before them was only worth talking about because of the slow seasonal news cycle.
"I don't see him sweating about this," Gutfled said. "I don't even know if he has a pulse when it comes to this sort of thing because it's just part of being that life. And these are not big issues. There are other things in life. But we're going to do it because it's summer. We've got to talk about something."
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