White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has spoken out about President Trump’s derogatory remark directed at a reporter, defending his choice to refer to the female journalist as ‘Piggy’.
During a press briefing on Thursday, Leavitt addressed the incident that gained significant attention on Friday, November 14. The exchange happened when Bloomberg correspondent Catherine Lucey questioned Trump about the Epstein files.
Trump responded by mentioning a “bad relationship” with Jeffrey Epstein. Lucey attempted a follow-up, asking: “Sir, if there’s nothing incriminating in the files…”
Before she could finish, the President interrupted her, harshly stating: “Quiet. Quiet, Piggy,” then proceeded to field another question.
The comment was met with widespread criticism, but Leavitt has since attempted to cast the remark in a positive light, claiming it was an example of Trump being ‘respectful.’
“Look, the president is very frank & honest with everyone in this room,” Leavitt stated. “You’ve all seen it yourselves. You’ve all experienced it yourselves. And I think it’s one of the many reasons the American people reelected this president, because of his frankness.”
“He calls out fake news when he sees it. He gets frustrated with reporters when you lie about him, when you spread fake news about him and his administration,” she added. “But he also is the most transparent president in history, and he gives all of you in this room, as you all know, unprecedented access. You are in the Oval Office almost every day, asking the president questions.”
“And so I think the president being frank and open and honest to your faces, rather than hiding behind your backs, is frankly a lot more respectful than what you saw in the last administration, where you had a president who would lie to your face and then didn’t speak to you for weeks,” Leavitt explained.
“I think everyone in this room should appreciate the frankness and the openness that you get from President Trump on a near-daily basis,” she concluded.
Leavitt’s remarks were made just a day after The White House criticized Lucey for her questioning, describing her conduct as “inappropriate.”
In a statement on Wednesday, The White House commented: “This reporter behaved in an inappropriate and unprofessional way towards her colleagues on the plane.”
“If you’re going to give it, you have to be able to take.”
No specific reasons were provided as to why Lucey’s question had been labeled inappropriate and unprofessional by The White House.