I have seen Donald Trump go off on a lot of reporters in my days covering politics, but I just knew two recent interactions would be worse than most.
An ABC News reporter hit Trump with two questions he did not like. The president also shredded a reporter from Bloomberg News for asking a Jeffrey Epstein-related question.
Trump responded to one of the queries by calling a journalist “piggy,” and as you would expect, the media and internet erupted.
There really is a lot to unpack here to figure out why Trump went off like this over questions he had to know were coming. So, let’s go back to the end of Trump’s term and the beginning of Joe Biden’s term, to when Biden was ripped for giving a fist bump to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Saudi Arabia, more specifically, the Crown Prince, has been accused of ordering the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Trump never really addressed the allegations when he was in office the first time around, and Biden tore into both Saudi Arabia and the Crown Prince during his term, and he fist bumped him amid his 2022 trip to the Middle East.
At the time, former Washington Post publisher Fred Ryan considered the gesture more offensive than shaking hands, and Trump ripped the Biden move as well. Ryan stated, "The fist bump between President Biden and Mohammed bin Salman was worse than a handshake -- it was shameful. It projected a level of intimacy and comfort that delivers to MBS the unwarranted redemption he has been desperately seeking."
Trump said yesterday during the Crown Prince's visit to the Oval Office, "And Trump doesn't give a fist pump. I grab that hand. I don't give a hell where that hand’s been, I grab that hand. Remember Biden? He travels for 20 hours, he gets out, and he gives a fist bump. No. When you get out of the plane and you got the future king and the man who is one of the most respected people in the world, you shake his hand, you don't give him a fist bump, right?"
ABC News correspondent Mary Bruce asked Trump two questions, both of which set the president off during the Crown Prince’s visit. She asked, "Is it appropriate, Mr. President, for your family to be doing business in Saudi Arabia while you're president? Is that a conflict of interest? And Your Royal Highness, the U.S. intelligence concluded that you orchestrated the brutal murder of a journalist; 9/11 families are furious that you are here in the Oval Office. Why should Americans trust you?"
Trump first asked Bruce which organization she was with, and she responded that it was ABC News. He then went through his usual rant, calling ABC News “fake news.” After defending his family’s business activities, Trump then stated, "As far as this gentleman is concerned, he's done a phenomenal job. You mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn't like that gentleman that you're talking about.”
He continued, “Whether you like him or didn't like him, things happen, but he knew nothing about it. And we can leave it at that. You don't have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that."
That was not all from Trump in recent days, however, because Catherine Lucey, Bloomberg’s White House correspondent, had previously dared to ask a question about Epstein, wondering why Trump was trying to block the document release petition in Congress “if there’s nothing incriminating in the files.” Trump went off, pointing directly at her, saying, “Quiet. Quiet, piggy.”
After Trump made the above-referenced comments, the GOP was once again forced into defensive mode to defend him for calling a female reporter “piggy.” Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL) was among those attempting to explain, stating, “President Trump is a very picturesque and difficult and different type of politician. But I always say that I look at his policies and not at his personality.” She added, “No one is perfect. Those who are perfect are in heaven.”
The mainstream media, for its part, went off on Trump for his comments. CNN’s Jake Tapper called his remarks “disgusting and completely unacceptable.” The Atlantic’s McKay Coppins said that President Trump “continues to behave in ways that not a single parent I know would tolerate from their elementary-school-aged kids.”
I have stated before that I think the name-calling nonsense is childish, especially when you are trying to win over women voters and save the upcoming election cycle. This may be a harsh take for some to hear, but Trump needs to handle these things better. While his base finds his approach amusing, the people we are trying to lure into the conservative movement are repulsed by it.
And if people think we don’t need those voters, just go back and see what happened in 2020 when people grew tired of Trump’s antics in office. He is the president of the United States, and while I have no problem with him joking around in the right venue, this was not it. He can be stern and forceful without risking this type of fallout. I am not asking Trump to eat garbage from reporters, just to return the fire in a manner that yields better optics.
