Donald Trump lashed out at reporters multiple times during a chaotic briefing in the White House.
“Listen to you. Hey, I’m not pointing. You better, you better, I don’t know who the hell you are, but you better be careful,” he said in an obscure threat to one reporter.
“Quiet. Quiet! What’s wrong with you? Are you a sick person? I actually think there’s something wrong with you,” Trump also said during the announcement.
The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg reported that he was the one who was on the receiving end of Trump’s ire in these two moments.
They ended up on the White House’s Rapid Response social media page, where they referred to Feinberg as an ableist slur, and on Vice President JD Vance’s social media page, where he called him an “imbecile.”
“For the record, I had an annual physical earlier this month, and I can report I’m in perfect health,” Feinberg said. “I was doing my job, and I’ll be right back at it tomorrow.”
In another instance during the briefing, Trump also sternly shushed a reporter and repeatedly said “WAIT” before moving on to another reporter’s question.
Trump’s outbursts toward reporters on Tuesday came as he was announcing a new $25 million fund dedicated to incentivising Americans to report fraud.
Feinberg pointed out that a similar fund under a law called the False Claims Act has existed since 1883.
Andrew Harnik via Getty Images
The president’s disdain for the press is nothing new. He frequently refers to press coverage that calls him out as “fake news,” and he has sued multiple outlets under that pretense. He’s even launched a “Media Offenders” online portal.
Trump has also been particularly aggressive toward female reporters. In an instance last November, he told female Bloomberg correspondent Catherine Lucey, “Quiet, Piggy!”
In another instance last month, Trump cut off ABC’s Rachel Scott as she was trying to ask him a question: “Not you. Not you. Not you. You’re the worst.”
Trump has also come under fire recently for his press ban against CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, which a judge has temporarily blocked until a lawsuit on the matter comes to a close. The outlets argue the ban is a violation of the First and Fifth Amendments.
The New York Times also reported Tuesday that Trump is seeking to evict the press from the White House as he escalates his war against the media and press freedom.
