President Trump has yet again snapped at a woman reporter, this time angrily responding to questions from a correspondent whom he has insulted in the past. The latest blowup, related to the president’s wild election promise, adds to a long list of Trump attacking members of the press and especially women in journalism.
Trump gets in Rachel Scott’s face, shuts her down over trillion-dollar payout question
President Trump had yet another blowup directed at ABC News Senior White House correspondent Rachel Scott. The latest incident occurred late Thursday as the president spoke to reporters on the tarmac of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport as he prepared to board Air Force One after having appeared at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas. As Blavity previously reported, Trump used his first night speech at the event to promise a “Trump dividend” check of $5000 to every adult American citizen if voters maintained Republican control of both houses of Congress in November’s midterm elections.
Scott asked Trump about the payout promise, which many are viewing as a desperate election play as the GOP faces the prospect of significant losses in November. “The U.S. is still $40 trillion in debt. If your economic policies are working, why do you need an incentive for people to turn out to vote?” Scott asked. After Trump responded, rejecting her framing of the question and pivoting to criticisms of President Biden, he attempted to move on to other questions. As Scott attempted to ask a follow-up, Trump curtly interrupted her, snapping “Not you. Not you.” He then got in Scott’s face, stepping toward her and leaning in as he snarled “hey, not you,” later throwing in “your network and you, you’re the worst.”
Trump history of attacking Scott, women journalists and the media
This is at least the third time in less than a year that Trump has personally insulted Scott. Last December, Trump called Scott “obnoxious” and “a terrible reporter” after she pressed him on his controversial policy of military strikes against alleged drug smuggling boats. In May, Trump dismissed Scott as “one of the worst reporters” and “a horror show” as she questioned him about costly renovation projects in Washington, D.C. While Trump has verbally attacked Scott on these previous occasions, many saw him as crossing a line by the way he physically approached her during the latest exchange. “It’s clear that Donald Trump was being menacing and threatening towards Rachel, and it was beyond inappropriate. It was disgusting behavior,” political commentator Reecie Colbert told The Grio. “Nobody is surprised Trump lunged at an intelligent, accomplished Black journalist,” posted an X account about the exchange. “Rachel represents the type of person he fears and loathes the most. Sorry this happened to her.”
Trump’s increasing hostility toward Scott comes as he has a growing list of incidents of launching verbal attacks and attempting to silence women journalists who ask him question he does not like. Black women such as Scott and NBC’s Kristen Welker have often been the targets of the president’s vitriol. Trump recently escalated his attacks on Welker, saying that she would be “reported to the FCC for rebuke or punishment” after she questioned Trump’s recent track record for endorsing candidates. Although the Trump administration does not have the authority to make good on this particular threat, it has used FCC pressure to influence other networks, such as threatening programs such as The View, Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel Live! over interviews with Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico.
As Trump and Republicans appear to grow increasingly desperate to maintain power in Washington, D.C., the president seems more than willing to use the power of the federal government to push his own agenda by bullying and intimidating the press. And as Trump’s latest incident with Rachel Scott shows, he has reserved much of his personal animosity for women in journalism, with Black women being particularly frequent targets of his attacks.