Some comments from the White House press corps to each other after Pres. Trump's first disastrous press conference on Thursday, as reported in Andrew Marantz's piece, “Inside Trump's Surreal Press Conference,” on The New Yorker site:

• “Did he literally say the words 'Russia is fake news'?”
• “Surreal. Surreal. Surreal.”
• “Who's the banana republic now?”*
• “April, I have a black friend in Cleveland—could you send him a message for me?”**
• “I mean, I can't even.”***

* from a reporter who's covered Latin American dictatorships
** to April Ryan, an African-American reporter, whom Donald Trump assumed would know the Congressional Black Caucus
*** from April Ryan