Washington: The White House has defended President Donald Trump over shushing a female reporter and calling her “piggy” as she attempted to question him over the Epstein files.
The interaction occurred on board Air Force One en route to Trump’s Florida mansion, Mar-a-Lago, on Friday. Journalists had been asking about Trump’s past friendship with Jeffrey Epstein after the US Congress released thousands of pages of emails from the convicted sex offender’s estate.
Trump, who was at that point urging Republicans not to release the Epstein files, was speaking about Epstein’s links to prominent Democrats such as former president Bill Clinton and economist Larry Summers.
Bloomberg White House reporter Catherine Lucey began to ask a follow-up question about why Trump opposed releasing the files if, as he claimed, there was nothing incriminating about him in the documents.
Trump then pointed a finger at her and said: “Quiet. Quiet, piggy.”
When contacted, a White House official defended Trump’s remarks in a statement to this masthead.
“This reporter behaved in an inappropriate and unprofessional way towards her colleagues on the plane,” they said. “If you’re going to give it, you have to be able to take it.”
The official did not say what it was about Lucey’s conduct that they viewed as inappropriate or unprofessional.
The incident was reported contemporaneously by CBS News’ Jennifer Jacobs on Friday night, US time, but did not gain much traction until days later.
Bloomberg News was contacted for comment. A spokesperson told The Guardian: “Our White House journalists perform a vital public service, asking questions without fear or favour. We remain focused on reporting issues of public interest fairly and accurately.”
Trump frequently tells reporters to be “quiet” if he objects to a line of questioning or believes they have already had their “go”.
He has likened women to pigs before, having once described comedian Rosie O’Donnell as a “big, fat pig”. Alicia Machado, a Miss Universe pageant winner, has claimed that Trump once called her “Miss Piggy” and told her to lose weight.
‘Disgusting and unacceptable’
Trump has also used the insult on men. During last year’s election campaign, he would sometimes encourage women at his rallies to get their “fat pig” husbands off the couch and into a voting booth.
No other reporters aboard the plane appeared to react to Trump’s insult, but many journalists condemned the president as the video gained attention on Wednesday (AEDT).
CNN host Jake Tapper called the remark “disgusting and completely unacceptable” and said the Epstein topic appeared to anger Trump. The White House Correspondents’ Association was contacted for comment.
Meanwhile, Trump snapped at another female reporter in the Oval Office on Wednesday when she asked him why he was waiting for Congress to compel the release of the Epstein files, rather than just ordering the Department of Justice to release them now.
“It’s not the question that I mind, it’s your attitude,” Trump told ABC News America’s Mary Bruce. “It’s the way you ask these questions … you’re a terrible person and a terrible reporter.”
Bruce had earlier asked Trump and Saudi Arabian leader Mohammed bin Salman about the 2018 murder of Saudi journalist and dissident Jamal Khashoggi; a Saudi plot that took place inside the Saudi consulate in Turkey. The CIA believes Mohammed ordered the killing.
Trump called it a “horrible, insubordinate and just a terrible question”, and said the ABC’s television licence should be taken away by the Federal Communications Commission.
“When you’re 97 per cent negative to Trump, and then Trump wins the election in a landslide, that means obviously your news is not credible, and you’re not credible as a reporter,” Trump said.
