“Shut up, little pig!” Trump insults a journalist who asks him about the Epstein files | International

Donald Trump, president of the United States, has difficulty controlling himself when he is contradicted or cornered. The Republican politician insulted a Bloomberg reporter last Friday when she asked her about his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. “Shut up, shut up, little pig,” said the billionaire who became famous by brutally firing workers in a television competition. This Tuesday he also threatened the ABC News network to withdraw his license because another reporter asked him about his relationship with Epstein. “I think you’re a terrible reporter,” the Republican told ABC News White House correspondent Mary Bruce.

Last Friday, while the president was traveling aboard Air Force One to Mar-a-Lago, his residence in Florida, where he escapes on weekends to play golf, he addressed journalists to maintain the usual informal meeting he usually has with the professionals who accompany him during his travels. At that moment, Bloomberg White House correspondent Catherine Lucey took the opportunity to ask why Trump was behaving that way “if there is nothing incriminating in the files.” The angry president responded: “Shut up, shut up, little pig.”

Trump’s comment only emerged on Tuesday, after it began circulating on social media. Trump’s reaction to a question from Bloomberg reporter Catherine Lucey, who asked him why he doesn’t order the release of all the Epstein case files if, as he claims, he is not involved in the case, provoked a wave of criticism.

Social networks are full of memes caricaturing Trump. The official account

Popular CNN host Jake Tapper “Disgusting and unacceptable,” CNN host Jake Tapper wrote on the social network X, sharing a video of the incident.

Former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson also called the comment “disgusting and degrading.” “It touches me deeply, because I too have suffered similar shame,” Gretchen wrote in a post on the social network X.

The information fire was fueled this Tuesday after Trump threatened ABC News to withdraw its license due to a bothersome question from a reporter. “I don’t like your attitude,” the president told Bruce. “You should go back to studying journalism. No more questions from you,” a shocked Trump said in the Oval Office, where he met with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, on Wednesday.

“I think they should take away ABC’s license. Because their news is so fake and wrong,” according to CNBC. “We have a great commissioner, who should look into this,” he added, apparently referring to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, whose agency oversees broadcast licensing.

Carr had already been in the spotlight last September when he threatened to withdraw the license of the ABC network after comedian and presenter Jimmy Kimmel’s comments on the murder of Charlie Kirk.

Shortly thereafter, the network announced it was suspending Kimmel’s show. Although criticism and popular pressure on ABC’s parent company, Disney, caused the network to back down and re-air the program a few weeks later.

Trump’s insults and threats against the media and journalists who ask him questions he doesn’t like or publish information that makes him uncomfortable are constant. He recently sued the BBC after it aired a program that held him directly responsible for the storming of the Capitol in January 2021. The director general of the British network resigned after the controversy.