Former Fox News host Eric Bolling said Wednesday that Donald Trump has "empathy and compassion" about the national opioid crisis, revealing that the president called him on Thanksgiving to express support following the death of his 19-year-old son.
Bolling appeared on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" to discuss the importance of fighting the opioid crisis and to share his personal tragedy of losing his son, Eric Chase Bolling, who passed away in September while a student at the University of Colorado-Boulder.
The Boulder County Coroner in Colorado revealed in October that the cause of death was an accidental overdose of marijuana, cocaine, and multiple opioids.
Bolling told "Morning Joe" co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough that Thanksgiving was a "really bad" time for him, describing what it felt like to see his deceased son's empty chair and the turkey on the table. The former Fox News host then said that Trump called him to say that he knew it was Bolling's first holiday without his son and that he was thinking about him.
"He cares about this issue. The guy has empathy and compassion for this and I think that matters," Bolling said. "Think about if 64,000 people died from a food-born illness or something in the water. We would be up in arms to try and figure out what's going on."
"I think this is the time to save some lives, and I hope I'm here helping people to become aware," added Bolling, who said he is helping the White House with an opioid awareness program.
Bolling, who was fired by Fox News shortly before his son's accidental overdose, concluded the segment by praising his son for his love of animals and people. The former host said his son was socially active, but noted he witnessed an extreme personality change in the last couple weeks before he died, which he said may have been a warning sign that he was experimenting with harder drugs.
In addition to Trump, Bolling said that Scarborough was one of several media and political figures who called to check in on him after his son's death.
Bolling is set to visit the White House later on Wednesday to meet with Trump and the opioid epidemic commission. Trump last week signed a bipartisan budget deal that includes $6 billion to combat the opioid crisis.