President Donald Trump and his coronavirus task force have been holding daily briefings in the press room over the week and sometimes, it has gotten confrontational as journalists ask Trump what his administration is doing to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
On Friday, the president attacked NBC White House correspondent Peter Alexander after he asked what the president wants to say to frightened Americans.
Alexander asked, “What do you say to Americans who are scared, though? I guess, nearly 200 dead, 14,000 who are sick, millions — as you witnessed — who are scared right now. What do you say to Americans who are watching right now who are scared?”
Rather than respond, Trump shot back, “I say that you’re a terrible reporter, that’s what I say.”
Moments later, the president added, “I think it’s a very nasty question, and I think it’s a very bad signal that you’re putting out to the American people. The American people are looking for answers and they’re looking for hope and you’re doing sensationalism and the same with NBC and ‘con-cast’, I don’t call it ‘Comcast’, I call it ‘con-cast’.”
He continued, “Let me just tell you something, that’s really bad reporting. And you ought to get back to reporting instead of sensationalism. Let’s see if it works, it might and it might not, I happen to feel good about it, but who knows, I’ve been right a lot.”
As another reporter began to ask a question, Trump pointed at Alexander and said, “You ought to be ashamed of yourself.”
Q: What do you say to Americans who are scared
TRUMP: "I say that you're a terrible reporter, that's what I say."
Unreal. pic.twitter.com/RJ1aJXJUUh — Pod Save America (@PodSaveAmerica) March 20, 2020
Trump’s interaction with Alexander comes only a day after he praised One America News (OAN), saying at a press conference, “OAN — very good … they treat me very nicely.” The reporter from OAN then asked Trump during the briefing if he thinks the term “Chinese food” is racist and accused other journalists of “team[ing] up with Chinese communist party narratives.”
GilgameshWulfenbach on March 20th, 2020 at 17:59 UTC »
That was such a softball question.
MTDreams123 on March 20th, 2020 at 17:54 UTC »
We've gone from "We have nothing to fear but fear itself" to "You are a Terrible Reporter"
kneeco28 on March 20th, 2020 at 17:41 UTC »
Fucking nutbar. He's deranged.
By the way, not that this response by Trump would be appropriate in the face of a tough question, but this wasn't even a tough question! This was as easy a question as you could get in this situation: "Mr. President, people are scared, the floor is yours to speak to them" is the question you want if you're the president in this situation, it's an invitation to lead and address and comfort in any way, shape, or form you want. And it's a softball, especially graded on the Trump curve. If he just threw out a few platitudes "We are with you, we are in this together, we are strong, and we will come out the other side even stronger" or whatever, cable news would fall over themselves with "This is the day Trump became President!" bullshit.