President Donald Trump has spent years belittling girls reporters, however his newest outburst stands out even by his requirements.
Calling a Bloomberg correspondent a “piggy” whereas aboard Air Power One, the insult barely registered at first. By Tuesday, it was in all places, drawing sharp pushback from journalists who’ve clashed with Trump earlier than and others who acknowledged the acquainted dynamic.
CNN correspondent Kaitlan Collins isn’t any stranger to President Donald Trump’s demeaning feedback towards girls reporters.
White Home correspondent Catherine Lucey had used a uncommon second with the president to press him on the escalating Epstein scandal and the Home vote to launch the recordsdata on Tuesday. However when she requested why he was appearing like he had one thing to cover, “if there’s nothing incriminating in the files,” Trump minimize her off.
“Quiet. Quiet, piggy,” he stated, pointing at her.
CBS correspondent Jennifer Jacobs first reported on Trump’s outburst, although she didn’t title Lucey on the time.
The blowback got here shortly.
“Disgusting and completely unacceptable,” CNN anchor Jake Tapper wrote on X.
Trump’s hostility towards the press is hardly new, however his defensiveness across the Epstein recordsdata has been constructing for weeks.
After months of calling the recordsdata a “hoax” and making an attempt to delay or block their disclosure, he now faces bipartisan strain to make them public. And whereas Trump lengthy opposed the discharge, he abruptly modified course Sunday when it turned clear that the decision would move within the Home.
Former Fox Information host Gretchen Carlson referred to as President Donald Trump’s remark to Catherine Lucey “disgusting and degrading.”
Notably, this wasn’t the primary time that he used this particular insult. Alicia Machado, who was topped Miss Universe in 1996, has lengthy stated that Trump referred to as her “Miss Piggy” and ordered her to shed extra pounds when he owned the pageant.
In 2018, Lynne Patton, then a Trump administration official, aimed the identical slur at veteran reporter April Ryan. Patton apologized, however Trump by no means did. That very same 12 months, Trump referred to as Ryan a “loser” who “doesn’t know what the hell she is doing.”
Even on Tuesday—whereas the “piggy” comment was nonetheless spreading—Trump snapped at one other girl reporter after she requested why he was ready on Congress to launch the Epstein recordsdata as an alternative of simply doing it himself.
“It’s not the question that I mind. It’s your attitude,” Trump informed her. “I think you are a terrible reporter. It’s the way you ask these questions. You start off with a man who’s highly respected, asking him a horrible, insubordinate question.”
“You’re a terrible person and a terrible reporter,” he added.
This sample didn’t begin just lately. At a joint look with Argentine President Javier Milei final month, a lady journalist requested about China’s rising affect in Latin America. Trump turned to Vice President JD Vance and stated, “I just like to watch her talk.” The 2 laughed.
“Good job. Good job. Thank you, darling,” Trump informed the reporter.
A cartoon by Jack Ohman.
Even when he’s not outright insulting girls, he usually veers into condescension about their appears or intelligence. Throughout a July briefing, he fixated on African reporter Hariana Verás.
“That’s so beautifully stated,” he stated earlier than pivoting to how “beautiful” he discovered her.
“I’m not allowed to say that. You know that could be the end of my political career, but you are beautiful—and you’re beautiful inside,” Trump stated. “I wish I had more reporters like you.”
The issue with these dynamics has been raised earlier than. In 2018, the Worldwide Girls’s Media Basis urged the White Home to curb Trump’s remedy of ladies journalists, particularly girls of shade.
“While name-calling may seem harmless, coming from the head of our government, it often sets in motion a torrent of abuse towards the journalist,” Government Director Elisa Lees Muñoz informed The Guardian.
