Narrative-building in progress: CNN's Brian Stelter REALLY concerned about Trump's mental fitness

North Korea hasn’t fired off any nukes yet, thank goodness, but President Trump’s tweet about his nuclear button still has a lot of the country rattled, perhaps CNN’s Brian Stelter most of all.

On Tuesday night, after the tweet, Stelter made it known that he rewrote the opening of “Anderson Cooper 360” to deal with the tweet, which he called “madness.”

Rewriting @AC360 due to Trump's "nuclear button" tweet: "This is not how we planned to start the broadcast, but President Trump has just tweeted, and it is almost literally a bombshell," @andersoncooper says pic.twitter.com/0Hf74aBv5p

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) January 3, 2018

This is about the president's fitness. It's uncomfortable. But it's incumbent on journalists to ask these Q's. https://t.co/6DbjZW8S71

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) January 3, 2018

Yeah, OK. It’s now two days later and we’re still sticking with the narrative of President Trump’s mental fitness — a topic covered on CNN’s “The Lead with Jake Tapper” Thursday.

Psychiatrist tells Dems in Congress: Trump is losing grip on reality https://t.co/6dxJcC2bZr #TheLead pic.twitter.com/mJ71x1S5s2

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 4, 2018

Now Stelter is checking into Steve Bannon’s questionable tell-all book “Fire and Fury,” and of course what inspired him to write a column were questions in the book about Trump’s fitness for office.

The gossipy parts of Wolff's book obscure the bigger, more important point. His reporting suggests Trump is unstable — raising alarms about his fitness for office. Here's my new column https://t.co/d9Y5JNBJtq

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) January 4, 2018

Concerns about Trump’s fitness were already in the news bloodstream because of his jaw-dropping tweets on Tuesday about jailing political opponents and controlling a “nuclear button.”

“Should Americans be concerned about the President’s mental fitness,” NBC’s Peter Alexander asked in Wednesday’s press briefing, given that “he appears to be speaking so lightly about threats regarding a nuclear button?”

On CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront” Wednesday night, former presidential adviser and CNN senior political analyst David Gergen said Wolff’s reporting reinforce questions about whether Trump is fit for office.

“I do think we need to have a serious national discussion about this,” Gergen said. And “by the way,” he added, “I think the Republican party bears some responsibility here.”

The ratings show most of America thinks CNN personnel are unstable, but we are not qualified to determine, and more importantly, we haven't analyzed you in person. BOTH required. https://t.co/FkPvYYSW7I

— Sandy 〽️ (@RightGlockMom) January 4, 2018

https://twitter.com/notthefakeDH/status/949051194764382209

Don't you work for that cable network who went "all in" on the pissing Russian hookers?

How many times are you going to touch that hot stove Tater? https://t.co/wfBdp0jI8X

— ?HONEY?BADGER? (@nickie_greer) January 4, 2018

CNN narratives are why CNN is so unworthy of your time. Narratives are created by them and pushed as reality. https://t.co/7XGXVcD4vj

— MaryMary (@Emberr) January 4, 2018

What’s that about CNN narratives? Hey look, here’s Stelter on air again talking about … Trump’s mental fitness.

Fears about President Trump's competency are coming to the forefront. "Mental fitness" has come up at the W.H. briefing two days in a row https://t.co/hPebOM5wvV https://t.co/h19uOIKKZY

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) January 4, 2018

You know, stuff doesn’t just “come up” at a White House briefing unless reporters ask about it. And it seems CNN has sunk its fangs into this narrative like a big white box truck.

"We've asked questions about Trump's mental health two days in a row. Something serious is going on here." https://t.co/MjwPWuYl0s

— BT (@back_ttys) January 5, 2018

Interesting game.

Media brings up concerns about mental fitness.

Media then reports that concerns about mental fitness are being raised. https://t.co/hFSGNvlf26

— Thankful Muppet Energy (Sunny) (@sunnyright) January 4, 2018

This is classic. The media decide to ask questions about "competency" over and over. Then the media say LOOK, it's a big story. See how many times WE asked questions about it? #ISeeWhatYouDidThere https://t.co/pas4YTlnxL

— The Cable Gamer (@TheCableGame) January 4, 2018

Now do this narrative to Nancy Pelosi!https://t.co/cf56qlH1xG

— MrsFiveO (@MrsFiveO) January 4, 2018

Who, the woman who claimed a tax cut was “Armageddon” and was immediately proven wrong? Yeah, let’s look into her mental fitness.

https://twitter.com/notthefakeDH/status/949068282400792578

https://twitter.com/mediacritik/status/949073641085460480

BREAKING NEWS!!! Fears about Russian collusion being a bust cause CNN's Tater Stelter to go back to the "mental stability" well, ONE MORE TIME.

She will never be president Tater. Let it go. ???????? https://t.co/9gMB0tOOD4

— ?HONEY?BADGER? (@nickie_greer) January 5, 2018

By the way, that “nuclear button” tweet that apparently has the whole country questioning Trump’s mental fitness? It’s been “liked” 475,000 times. Maybe report that?

Jake Tapper picks the PERFECT screencap for a piece on Trump’s mental fitness