A critic of Donald Trump has criticized the response of the White House press secretary concerning a controversial remark the president directed at a journalist.
During an interaction with the press, Donald Trump was questioned by a female reporter about the Epstein files, a sensitive issue for the president due to his known association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In response to a question from the female journalist, Trump retorted with the comment: “Quiet, piggy!”
This offensive statement sparked significant backlash after footage of the incident spread across social media. Despite the clear sexist nature of the president’s remark, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Trump’s behavior.
Leavitt asserted that Trump’s comments were a display of his straightforwardness and honesty, and she even suggested that such honesty indicated a form of respect when he referred to the female reporter as ‘piggy.’
Comedian and known Trump critic Bill Maher has issued a response to Leavitt’s defense of Trump’s sexist comment.
During a segment addressing the incident, Maher criticized Leavitt’s justification for Trump’s derogatory remark, “quiet piggy.”
He stated: “Listen to this, at the press conference the next day, his press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, spun this by saying it’s actually admirable. She said it’s the president being frank and open and honest, that’s good!”
Reflecting on Trump’s sexist language, Maher concluded with: “Well, in that case, shut up, b—h.”
Leavitt’s time as White House press secretary has been marked by numerous controversies.
One notable incident under her watch was the exclusion of the Associated Press from the White House press pool over their decision not to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the ‘Gulf of America’ in their reports.
Leavitt has also been known to personally attack reporters posing challenging questions to the administration, including S.V. Dáte, HuffPost’s senior White House correspondent.
Dáte, an experienced journalist, queried Leavitt on Russia’s breach of a 1994 Budapest agreement with Ukraine.
In a message leaked by Leavitt, Dáte asked: “Does he not see why Ukraine might object to that site? Who suggested Budapest? Thanks.”
Leavitt’s response to the query was immature, stating: “Your mom did.”
When Dáte inquired whether she found the exchange amusing, Leavitt launched a personal attack, saying: “It’s funny to me that you actually consider yourself a journal [sic]. You are a far-left hack who nobody takes seriously, including your colleagues in the media, they just don’t tell you that to your face. Stop texting me your disingenuous, biased, and bulls*** questions.”