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Topics: Donald Trump, News, Politics, US News
Kit Roberts
Topics: Donald Trump, News, Politics, US News
A critic of Donald Trump has hit out at the White House press secretary over her response to a controversial comment the president made to a journalist.
Trump had been addressing journalists when a female reporter questioned him about the Epstein files, a topic which is very touchy for the president due to public evidence of his association with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Responding to the question from a female reporter, Trump barked: "Quiet, piggy!"
His offensive comment caused outrage after a clip of it went viral on social media. Despite the obvious misogynistic overtones of the president's remark, White House press secretary Leavitt leapt to his defence.
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She claimed that Trump was actually being 'very frank and honest', and that his being 'honest' even meant that he was actually being 'respectful' by calling a female reporter 'piggy'.
Comedian and Trump critic Bill Maher has since responded to Leavitt's defence of Trump's sexist remark.
In a speech about the interaction, Maher hit out at Leavitt's justification of Trump telling a reporter 'quiet piggy'.
He said: "Listen to this, at the press conference the next day, his press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, spun this by saying it’s actually admirable. She said it’s the president being frank and open and honest, that’s good!"
Deliberately using language that reflected Trump's misogynistic comment, he concluded: "Well, in that case, shut up, b---h."
Leavitt's tenure as White House press secretary has been defined by controversy.
It was under Leavitt that the Associated Press was excluded from the White House press pool over their refusal to call the Gulf of Mexico the 'Gulf of America' in their coverage.
Leavitt has also personally attacked journalists who ask difficult questions of the US government, including HuffPost's senior White House correspondent S.V. Dáte.
Dáte, a highly skilled and respected reporter, asked Leavitt a question about Russia violating a previous deal struck in Budapest between Russia and Ukraine in 1994.
In a message leaked by Leavitt, he asked: "Does he not see why Ukraine might object to that site? Who suggested Budapest? Thanks."
Leavitt responded to the message with something you might expect from a high schooler, not the White House, writing: "Your mom did."
When Dáte asked 'is this funny to you?' Leavitt launched into a personal attack, writing: "It's funny to me that you actually consider yourself a journal [sic]. You are a far left hack who nobody takes seriously, including your colleagues in the media, they just don't tell you that to your face. Stop texting me your disingenuous, biased, and bulls*** questions."