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The White House has come to President Donald Trump’s defense following his derogatory remark, calling a female journalist “piggy.”
The incident unfolded while Trump was speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday, as captured by CNN footage.
The conversation initially centered on a question regarding what Jeffrey Epstein meant in an email when he claimed Trump “knew about the girls” that Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s associate, was recruiting from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.
Responding to the query, Trump stated, “I know nothing about that. They would have announced it a long time ago.”
Subsequently, he attempted to divert attention towards Epstein’s connections with notable Democrat figures, including former President Bill Clinton and ex-Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.
”Jeffrey Epstein and I had a very bad relationship for many years,” Trump said.
Another reporter began to ask, “If there’s nothing incriminating in the files sir”, before being brutally cut off.
“Quiet. Quiet, piggy,” Trump said, leaning forward to point at the woman.
When asked about the insult, the White House levelled non-specific accusations at the journalist.
“This reporter behaved in an inappropriate and unprofessional way towards her colleagues on the plane,” the statement read.
“If you’re going to give it, you have to be able to take it.”
At the time, Trump’s opposition to the release of the Epstein files was still his public-facing stance, though later on the weekend he would undergo an about-face and urge Republicans to vote for making them public.
Trump has also pledged to sign off on the file’s release if it passes the House and the Senate.
The journalist’s organisation, Bloomberg, issued a statement in her defence.
“Our White House journalists perform a vital public service, asking questions without fear or favour,” the statement read.
“We remain focused on reporting issues of public interest fairly and accurately.”
His insulting berating of the reporter, meanwhile, has begun to come in for some criticism from the US media.
CNN anchor Jake Tapper posted on X that the insult was “disgusting and completely unacceptable”, while former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson said it was “degrading”.
