Wall Street Journal compares Trump to 'a drunk' clinging to 'an empty gin bottle' in scathing editorial

The words of President Donald Trump and his White House staff are, in no small way, a matter of national security and credibility, and all of those things have entered the danger zone, a Wall Street Journal editorial argued on Tuesday night.

The conservative-leaning editorial board pointed to Trump's ongoing, now-debunked claim that domestic and international entities colluded with the Obama administration to spy on Trump's campaign during the 2016 election.

Trump and his staffers have not backed away from the false allegation, despite having been rebuked publicly by FBI Director James Comey and NSA Director Mike Rogers during congressional testimony on Monday.

The Journal painted a stark image of Trump's refusal to back down: "Yet the President clings to his assertion like a drunk to an empty gin bottle, rolling out his press spokesman to make more dubious claims."

An example of that came last week when White House press secretary Sean Spicer cited commentary from a now-suspended Fox News commentator, who claimed that US intelligence sources told him that the Obama administration recruited Britain's Global Communications Headquarters for the nonexistent Trump wiretapping operation.

All parties mentioned by the Trump White House in its attempts to establish Trump's wiretapping claims have categorically denied the allegations.

Still, Trump and his White House have persisted, and The Journal wrote that the gravity of Trump's headstrong motivations carry potentially devastating consequences.

The editorial board concluded: "If he doesn't show more respect for the truth, most Americans may conclude he's a fake president."