President Donald Trump directed his ire at yet another journalist this week, lashing out at The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg in the Oval Office and subsequently removing him from the White House press pool.
A verbal clash first broke out at the Oval Office on Tuesday, when Feinberg asked Trump questions during a press gaggle.
“Wait, wait. Quiet,” Trump barked. “What’s wrong with you? Are you a sick person? I actually think there’s something wrong with you.”
At one point, Trump also warned Feinberg, “I don’t know who the hell you are, but you better be careful.”
The exchange was caught on video by other news outlets, and the White House later posted the footage on X, using a slur to refer to the reporter. Vice President JD Vance also shared the exchange on X and called Feinberg an “imbecile.”
The White House penalized Feinberg on Wednesday, barring him from the press pool scheduled to travel to Iowa for Trump’s Thursday campaign rally. White House Correspondents’ Association President Jacqui Heinrich called the removal of Feinberg from his pool duties “retaliation.”
“The American public’s right to an independent press depends on reporters being able to do their jobs without fear that challenging the president will cut off their access,” Heinrich, a Fox News correspondent, said in a statement.
The White House’s attempts to ice out Feinberg and The Independent typify Trump’s approach to traditional news outlets, which has grown increasingly combative.
Although he has directed most of his wrath at female reporters, Trump has frequently snapped at journalists pressing him on difficult questions. He has also sought to use the power of his office to punish media outlets; last month, he banned reporters with MS NOW, CNN and Politico from the White House, though a federal judge has temporarily blocked that ban.
The Independent was not the only news outlet that the White House has targeted this week. CNN was also barred from fulfilling its out of town pool duties on Wednesday, when Trump traveled to South Carolina to stump for Republican Sen. Darline Graham.
On Monday, the White House threatened Politico over its reporting about Susie Wiles, the president’s chief of staff, warning the outlet to retract or correct several articles or “face the consequences.” Politico corrected a detail in one of its stories but said it would continue its work despite the White House’s “ongoing attempts to intimidate Politico and chill and punish that reporting.”
Trump may even be considering removing the press corps from the White House altogether. On Tuesday, The New York Times reported that Trump has said he would like to revert the White House press briefing room back to the indoor pool it was first built as before the Nixon administration covered it to make space for reporters. Last month, he posted images on Truth Social that suggested as much.
The post White House uses slur against journalist after Trump berates him in Oval Office appeared first on MS NOW.
From MS Now.

Leave a Reply