The White House press secretary told the press on Thursday that they should ‘appreciate the frankness’ they get from Trump
Donald Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, has addressed the viral clip of the president calling a female reporter “Piggy.”
During her briefing on Thursday, Nov. 20, Leavitt was asked about the incident, which occurred aboard Air Force One on Friday, Nov. 14. Trump was speaking to a gaggle of reporters when he was asked by Bloomberg correspondent Catherine Lucey about the Epstein files.
After the president said he had a “bad relationship” with Epstein, Lucey began to ask a follow-up, saying, “Sir, if there’s nothing incriminating in the files…” However, Trump cut her off, pointing at her and snapping, “Quiet. Quiet, Piggy.” He then continued to address other questions.
Leavitt said the startling moment was evidence of Trump’s candid nature.
“Look, the president is very frank & honest with everyone in this room,” she said. “You’ve all seen it yourselves. You’ve all experienced it yourselves. And I think it’s one of the many reasons the American people reelected this president, because of his frankness.”
“He calls out fake news when he sees it. He gets frustrated with reporters when you lie about him, when you spread fake news about him and his administration,” she continued. “But he also is the most transparent president in history, and he gives all of you in this room, as you all know, unprecedented access. You are in the Oval Office almost every day, asking the president questions.”
“And so I think the president being frank and open and honest to your faces, rather than hiding behind your backs, is frankly a lot more respectful than what you saw in the last administration, where you had a president who would lie to your face and then didn’t speak to you for weeks,” Leavitt said.
“I think everyone in this room should appreciate the frankness and the openness that you get from President Trump on a near-daily basis.”
Leavitt’s statement comes one day after the White House defended Trump’s “Piggy” comment in a statement to PEOPLE, which said, “This reporter behaved in an inappropriate and unprofessional way towards her colleagues on the plane.”
“If you’re going to give it, you have to be able to take.”
The White House official did not provide any clarity on what made Lucey’s behavior “inappropriate and unprofessional.”
Just days after the “Piggy” clip went viral, the president had another tense encounter with a female reporter, this time in the Oval Office.
It occurred during a joint press conference with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, during which the president scolded members of the press for “embarrassing our guest” after they asked a question about murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
ABC’s Mary Bruce then asked Trump about Epstein, which caused an emotional reaction from the president.
“People are wise to your hoax,” the president said angrily. “ABC, your company, your crappy company is one of the perpetrators. And I’ll tell you something, I think the license should be taken away from ABC because your news is so fake and is so wrong. And we have a great commissioner, a chairman, who should look at that.”
Trump continued, saying ABC is not “credible” because he won the election after they covered him “97% negative.”
“You’re not after the radical left because you’re a radical left network,” he continued. “But I think the way you ask a question with the anger and the meanness is terrible. You ought to go back and learn how to be a reporter. No more questions from you.”