{"id":293333,"date":"2025-11-18T20:30:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T20:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/293333\/"},"modified":"2025-11-18T20:30:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T20:30:08","slug":"trump-faces-criticism-for-referring-to-female-bloomberg-reporter-as-piggy-donald-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/293333\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump faces criticism for referring to female Bloomberg reporter as \u2018piggy\u2019 | Donald Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump<\/a>, who has a history of making extremely personal attacks on female journalists, referred to a Bloomberg News correspondent as a \u201cpiggy\u201d during a clash onboard Air Force One on Friday.<\/p>\n

While the remark did not initially get much attention, it picked up some traction on Tuesday and has drawn backlash from fellow journalists, including some who have previously been attacked by Trump themselves.<\/p>\n

Catherine Lucey, Bloomberg\u2019s White House correspondent, had taken advantage of a press opportunity with the president \u2013 known as a gaggle \u2013 to ask a question about the unfolding Jeffrey Epstein<\/a> scandal and the possibility of the House<\/a> voting to release all of the files related to his case, which now appears likely.<\/p>\n

As Lucey started to ask why Trump was behaving the way he was \u201cif there\u2019s nothing incriminating in the files\u201d, Trump pointed at her and said: \u201cQuiet. Quiet, piggy.\u201d<\/p>\n

CBS News reporter Jennifer Jacobs first reported<\/a> that Trump called a Bloomberg News reporter \u201cpiggy\u201d, though she did not specify who it was.<\/p>\n

\u201cDisgusting and completely unacceptable,\u201d CNN anchor Jake Tapper wrote on X, sharing a clip of the incident<\/a>. Former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson also called the remark<\/a> \u201cdisgusting and degrading\u201d.<\/p>\n

When asked about the incident, Lucey directed the Guardian to a spokesperson for her news organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur White House journalists perform a vital public service, asking questions without fear or favor,\u201d a Bloomberg<\/a> News spokesperson said on Tuesday afternoon. \u201cWe remain focused on reporting issues of public interest fairly and accurately.\u201d<\/p>\n

The White House Correspondents\u2019 Association, which has released statements in the past defending journalists who faced attack from Trump, did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

The insult is a familiar one for Trump. Alicia Machado, who won the Miss Universe pageant in 1996, has said that Trump<\/a> once called her \u201cMiss Piggy\u201d and told her to lose weight. Trump owned the pageant at the time.<\/p>\n

April Ryan, a longtime White House correspondent, was referred to as \u201cMiss Piggy\u201d by Trump administration official Lynne Patton in 2018 \u2013 though Patton apologized for the remark<\/a>. (Trump himself called Ryan<\/a> a \u201closer\u201d who \u201cdoesn\u2019t know what the hell she\u2019s doing\u201d that same year.)<\/p>\n

In an interview with the Guardian, Ryan said that Trump\u2019s attack on the Bloomberg reporter was beneath the dignity of the presidency.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe president of the United States is supposed to be the moral leader, the leader of the country, and he\u2019s acting like some thug on the street,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s one thing for his minions to say that, but for him to call a woman that? That also shows how upset he is about the Epstein files. It lets us know that there\u2019s probably some fire there.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Speaking rhetorically, she said to Trump: \u201cBe careful how you call people names when you are in the pig pen yourself getting ready to go up for the slaughter.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also encouraged Lucey to keep asking tough questions. \u201cShe did the right thing by asking, and he wanted to intimidate her, and I pray that she fights on.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2018, the International Women\u2019s Media Foundation (IWMF) called on the White House<\/a> to be more respectful toward female journalists, referencing \u201crecent demeaning language from the president against female journalists of color\u201d.<\/p>\n

Elisa Lees Mu\u00f1oz, the IWMF\u2019s executive director, told the Guardian that Trump\u2019s \u201cpiggy\u201d remark is more of the same. \u201cPresident Trump\u2019s targeting of women journalists is nothing new,\u201d she said. \u201cHis appearance-based insults are gendered attacks meant to shut women journalists up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile name-calling may seem harmless, coming from the head of our government, it often sets in motion a torrent of abuse towards the journalist, which not only impacts her ability to work, but also sends a chilling message to other women journalists who are confronting him with hard-hitting questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked for comment about Trump\u2019s insult, a White House official blamed Lucey. \u201cThis reporter behaved in an inappropriate and unprofessional way towards her colleagues on the plane,\u201d the person claimed, offering no evidence for this allegation. \u201cIf you\u2019re going to give it, you have to be able to take.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked what specifically the reporter had done that was inappropriate, the White House did not respond.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Donald Trump, who has a history of making extremely personal attacks on female journalists, referred to a Bloomberg…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":293334,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-293333","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}