Share options
President Donald Trump has spent years belittling women reporters, but his latest outburst stands out even by his standards.
Calling a Bloomberg correspondent a “piggy” while aboard Air Force One, the insult barely registered at first. By Tuesday, it was everywhere, drawing sharp pushback from journalists who’ve clashed with Trump before and others who recognized the familiar dynamic.
White House correspondent Catherine Lucey had used a rare moment with the president to press him on the escalating Epstein scandal and the House vote to release the files on Tuesday. But when she asked why he was acting like he had something to hide, “if there’s nothing incriminating in the files,” Trump cut her off.
“Quiet. Quiet, piggy,” he said, pointing at her.
CBS correspondent Jennifer Jacobs first reported on Trump’s outburst, though she didn’t name Lucey at the time.
The blowback came quickly.
“Disgusting and completely unacceptable,” CNN anchor Jake Tapper wrote on X.
Gretchen Carlson, the former Fox News anchor who has her own rocky history with Trump, called the remark “disgusting and degrading.”
Trump’s hostility toward the press is hardly new, but his defensiveness around the Epstein files has been building for weeks.
After months of calling the files a “hoax” and trying to delay or block their disclosure, he now faces bipartisan pressure to make them public. And while Trump long opposed the release, he abruptly changed course Sunday when it became clear that the resolution would pass in the House.
Notably, this wasn’t the first time that he used this specific insult. Alicia Machado, who was crowned Miss Universe in 1996, has long said that Trump called her “Miss Piggy” and ordered her to lose weight when he owned the pageant.
In 2018, Lynne Patton, then a Trump administration official, aimed the same slur at veteran reporter April Ryan. Patton apologized, but Trump never did. That same year, Trump called Ryan a “loser” who “doesn’t know what the hell she is doing.”
Even on Tuesday—while the “piggy” remark was still spreading—Trump snapped at another woman reporter after she asked why he was waiting on Congress to release the Epstein files instead of just doing it himself.
“It’s not the question that I mind. It’s your attitude,” Trump told her. “I think you are a terrible reporter. It’s the way you ask these questions. You start off with a man who’s highly respected, asking him a horrible, insubordinate question.”
“You’re a terrible person and a terrible reporter,” he added.
This pattern didn’t start recently. At a joint appearance with Argentine President Javier Milei last month, a woman journalist asked about China’s growing influence in Latin America. Trump turned to Vice President JD Vance and said, “I just like to watch her talk.” The two laughed.
“Good job. Good job. Thank you, darling,” Trump told the reporter.
He also unloaded on CNN’s Kaitlan Collins after she asked about his decision to pardon Binance founder Changpeng Zhao. In a clip she later posted, Trump said that she knows “nothing about nothing” and is “fake news.”
Even when he’s not outright insulting women, he often veers into condescension about their looks or intelligence. During a July briefing, he fixated on African reporter Hariana Verás.
“That’s so beautifully stated,” he said before pivoting to how “beautiful” he found her.
“I’m not allowed to say that. You know that could be the end of my political career, but you are beautiful—and you’re beautiful inside,” Trump said. “I wish I had more reporters like you.”
The problem with these dynamics has been raised before. In 2018, the International Women’s Media Foundation urged the White House to curb Trump’s treatment of women journalists, especially women of color.
“While name-calling may seem harmless, coming from the head of our government, it often sets in motion a torrent of abuse towards the journalist,” Executive Director Elisa Lees Muñoz told The Guardian.
If the Epstein saga continues to dominate the news cycle, Trump may lash out even more. But this isn’t a departure from who he is; it’s the continuation of a well-worn script—one he reaches for when he feels the walls closing in.
Can you support progressive media today?
The Daily Kos newsroom relies on donations to be able to produce the fearless, progressive coverage we publish every day. If you appreciate the work we do, make a contribution. Please donate $5 today.
Can you contribute $5 today to continue community support that keeps our lights on?
