Karoline Leavitt says president \u2018calls out fake news when he sees it\u2019 after remark to reporter draws severe condemnation<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The White House issued a full-throated defense of Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s reference to a Bloomberg News correspondent as a \u201cpiggy\u201d on Thursday, claiming without evidence that the president \u201ccalls out fake news when he sees it and gets frustrated with reporters who spread false information\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt made the remarks during a White House briefing, saying Trump was re-elected because of his bluntness and that members of the media should appreciate his willingness to answer their questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe calls out fake news when he sees it and gets frustrated with reporters who spread false information,\u201d Leavitt said. \u201cBut he also provides unprecedented access to the press and answers questions on a near-daily basis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Leavitt did not specify what \u201cfake news\u201d or \u201cfalse information\u201d Trump was responding to when he called Catherine Lucey, Bloomberg\u2019s White House correspondent, \u201cpiggy\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The clash between Trump and Lucey happened on Friday onboard Air Force One. Lucey asked a question about the unfolding Jeffrey Epstein<\/a> scandal and the possibility of the House<\/a> voting to release all of the files related to his case, which came to fruition earlier this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Lucey started to ask why Trump was behaving the way he was \u201cif there\u2019s nothing incriminating in the files\u201d, Trump pointed at her and said: \u201cQuiet. Quiet, piggy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The remark received widespread backlash on Monday and Tuesday, with many fellow journalists condemning the incident. CNN anchor Jake Tapper wrote on X that the comment was \u201cdisgusting and completely unacceptable\u201d, while former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson\u2002called the remark<\/a> \u201cdisgusting and degrading\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Trump has long held and shared contempt for journalists publicly, he\u2019s been particularly open this week with his vitriol. On Tuesday, Trump called another female reporter, Mary Bruce of ABC News, \u201ca terrible person\u201d in the Oval Office. The reporter had asked Mohammed bin Salman, the visiting Saudi crown prince, about the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and also why Trump had not released the Epstein files.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMr President, why wait for Congress to release the Epstein files?\u2019 Bruce asked. \u201cWhy not just do it now?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s not the question that I mind. It\u2019s your attitude. I think you are a terrible reporter. It\u2019s the way you ask these questions. You start off with a man who is highly respected, asking him a horrible, insubordinate, and just a terrible question,\u201d Trump responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After this incident, the Society of Professional Journalists issued a statement condemning Trump\u2019s remarks to Lucey and Bruce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese incidents are not isolated; they are part of an unmistakable pattern of hostility \u2013 often directed at women \u2013 that undermines the essential role of a free and independent press,\u201d the statement reads<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SPJ executive director Caroline Hendrie emphasized that \u201ctargeting women reporters with humiliating insults should not be tolerated\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat we say \u2013 and what we refuse to say \u2013 signals to the world how much we value human rights and free expression,\u201d Hendrie said. \u201cWhen US leaders downplay the murder of a journalist or shame reporters for demanding transparency, it reverberates far beyond Washington.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n