White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Donald Trump for calling a reporter “piggy,” as she tried to cast the president’s outburst last week in a positive light.
On Air Force One on Friday, Trump scolded Bloomberg‘s Catherine Lucey as she tried to ask a follow up question about the Jeffrey Epstein files. “Quiet, piggy,” Trump could be heard saying.
At the White House press briefing on Thursday, one reporter asked Leavitt, “What did the president mean when he called the reporter piggy?”
Leavitt responded, “Look, the president is very frank and honest with everyone in this room…You have all experienced it yourself and I think it is one of the many reasons the American people reelected this president, because of his frankness. And 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 then argued that Trump is “the most transparent president in history,” pointing to his accessibility in the Oval Office nearly every day.
“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,” she said.
Lucey had not been sparring with Trump but appeared to be attempting to ask, if there was nothing incriminating in the files, why doesn’t he order their release himself, rather than have Congress vote on it?
Trump also lashed out at ABC News correspondent Mary Bruce on Tuesday during his Oval Office meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Bruce had asked the crown pricne about the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 and later asked Trump about the Epstein files.