Donald Trump’s top prosecutor in Washington, D.C., issued a bizarre warning on Sunday to anybody who might be contemplating using “serious products” to spawn algae in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
“We’ll consider more serious charges,” Jeanine Pirro said of any would-be algae growers.
Speaking on Fox News’ Sunday Briefing, Pirro echoed the 80-year-old president’s confusing conspiracy theory that anti-Trump saboteurs are to blame for recent issues with the newly renovated Reflecting Pool, rather than the $14.7 million project he hastily undertook to give it a makeover in time for the nation’s 250th birthday.
Pirro, 75, was asked by host Pete Doocy if ABC’s Jonathan Karl was “in trouble” for supposedly “sticking his hand into the Pool” for a recent segment about the renovations.
“Well, you know, it depends, you know? Anyone who is in a position of vandalizing or attempting to vandalize the Reflecting Pool will face the criminal justice system in D.C.,” she said.
“Look, the president has made it a priority to make D.C. not only safe, but beautiful. And there are several citations that have been handed out to individuals, and these are cases that will be prosecuted to the full extent.”
Doubling down on the idea that the pond’s sliminess was down to anti-patriots sabotaging the project by lacing it with pro-algae substances, Pirro vowed to criminally charge anyone putting substances into the pool to “create more algae or a bigger problem.”
Scientists have already debunked the claim of malicious actors deliberately causing excessive algae, saying the natural bloom of algae was likely made worse by the renovation and the new blue paint increasing the water temperature.
“But make no mistake, making D.C. beautiful is a priority, and if you damage, vandalize, or do anything to impact something like the reflecting pool, you can be prosecuted,” Pirro said.
Amid heightened scrutiny of the pool’s algae and peeling paint, Trump and his allies have increasingly sought to pin the blame on “radical leftists.” The U.S. Park Police and National Guard were deployed to patrol the area, and they’ve already gone as far as to arrest a 67-year-old former Olympian for allegedly touching the grimy liquid.
While the president may not be pleased that his efforts to turn the pool “American flag blue” have failed, however, the bubbling green potion currently in place seems to have become a success in its own right.
Droves of tourists have flocked to view the disaster with their own eyes. One, visiting from Connecticut, told CNN: “It looks pretty gross. I’ve taken about like 20 pictures already, especially of the people cleaning it, because I don’t know if I’ll ever see this again in my lifetime. Hopefully not.”
