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MSNOW anchor Chris Hayes branded President Trump as “deeply pathetic” over the commander-in-chief’s bid to rename Lake Ontario.
The president made headlines on Thursday when he signed an executive order to rename the huge body of water, which stretches into both the U.S. and Canada, as “Lake America.”
The renaming is the latest escalation in a simmering dispute between Canada and the United States following the collapse of trade talks between the two nations.
Later on Thursday, Hayes tore into Trump over a video uploaded to the president’s TikTok account in which he addressed the planned renaming.
“There’s this old man sitting at his desk with a little Sharpie, reduced to a state of total delusion,” Hayes said on MSNOW’s All In. “I mean, just deeply pathetic.”
MSNOW’s Chris Hayes tore into President Trump’s decision to rename Lake Ontario on Thursday night (MSNOW)
“I mean, pathetic in a way that almost kind of gave me the willies,” Hayes blasted.
In the video, Trump holds up a map of the lake and floats the idea of “making a little change.” Then, Trump brandishes one of his signature sharpies and scribbles out the lake’s name, writing “Lake America” over the image.
“’If you’re saying to yourself, ‘That’s crazy. He can’t just rename a Great Lake by scribbling on a map,’ you’re right,” Haynes said. “Today, he scribbled his signature on an executive order directing the Department of the Interior to update the lake’s name on U.S. maps. This is what consumes the president of the United States.”
The proposed renaming follows the collapse of trade talks between the United States and Canada, which has seen the former country impose 50 percent tariffs on $20 billion worth of goods from the latter country.
Later, Canada revealed that it was imposing retaliatory tariffs on some imports from the U.S.
Trump signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America on Thursday (Getty)
The collapse in talks came after Trump claimed earlier in August on Truth Social that a deal had been reached by both countries, pending the “finalization of documents.”
While signing the executive order to have the name of Lake Ontario changed, Trump boasted about previously signing an order to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America.”
“Now, all we need is an ocean,” the president said. “So, maybe we’ll have to change the name of the Atlantic and/or Pacific. Maybe we’ll change them both.”
Hayes also took a swipe at the president’s plan to rename the vast Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
“Sure, buddy. Go ahead. Change them both,” he said. “Change them both to what? American Ocean One, American Ocean Two?”
Lake Ontario stretches all the way from Canada into the United States (AFP/Getty)
Hayes added, “Knock yourself out. Write all over the place with your Sharpie. You’re doing great.”
The anchor concluded by taking aim at the president’s previous move to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, suggesting that “nobody wants this.”
“That was a few weeks after returning to office when again, he was at his strongest, right?” Hayes claimed. “‘I am the king, and now it’s Gulf of America.’”
“But now Lake America? Lake America? You sad weirdo,” Hayes concluded. “Nobody wants this. You know what they want? They want cheaper gas.”