US Politics
Trump lashes into female ABC News reporter with new insult when pressed on $10 billion IRS lawsuit
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Donald Trump once again tore into a female White House reporter on Friday, calling her a “very loud” person working for a “fake news” outlet who should give other reporters a chance to speak.
The attack on ABC News correspondent Karen Travers – which follows a growing trend of the president slamming women journalists with sexist insults – seemed to be a way for him to avoid answering a question about his stunning $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department, two departments he oversees.
During an executive order signing on Friday, which was centered on an IndyCar race around the US Capitol to celebrate America’s 250th birthday, Travers attempted to question the president about the lawsuit that was filed the night before.
That complaint, which includes the president’s two oldest sons and the Trump Organization, alleges that the IRS and Treasury failed to stop the leak of Trump’s tax records by an IRS contractor in 2019 and 2020.
Charles Littlejohn pleaded guilty in 2023 to leaking the president’s tax returns to the New York Times and received five years in prison. In 2020, the New York Times reported that Trump – despite his purported wealth – only paid $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and no taxes for most of the previous 15 years. At the time, Trump claimed that the story was “totally fake news.”
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Filed in the president’s “personal capacity,” the lawsuit is seeking damages of at least $10 billion from Trump’s own administration, claiming the leak of the tax documents caused “reputational and financial harm” and “unfairly tarnished” the business reputation of the Trumps and their company.
“This is theft and corruption. Immoral, sick and anti-America,” former GOP Rep. Denver Riggleman reacted.
“Mr President, why are you suing this administration and the IRS? Why are you suing?” Travers exclaimed while the president fielded questions during the Oval Office event, which also followed the release of more files related to the Jeffrey Epstein case
“Who are you with?” Trump shot back, prompting Travers to note that she works for ABC News.
“You’re a loud person,” the president sneered. “Very loud. Let somebody else have a chance.”
As Travers asked if the president was willing to answer her question, Trump – whose Justice Department just arrested Don Lemon and independent journalist Georgia Fort – began attacking the reporter and her news organization.
“ABC fake news,” he groused while ignoring Travers’ question. “Go ahead. I didn’t call on you… ABC, by the way, is truly one of the worst.”The president then moved on to another correspondent, who asked him about the upcoming talks between Russia and Ukraine.
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In recent months, Trump has increasingly launched into tirades against reporters covering his administration, with female journalists taking the brunt of those degrading and childish attacks.
While the president has ramped up his misogynistic attacks against women covering the White House, such as calling them “piggy,” “stupid,” “nasty,” “ugly,” and “obnoxious,” the White House press shop has insisted that Trump is not targeting females with sexist insults.
“President Trump has never been politically correct, never holds back, and in large part, the American people re-elected him for his transparency,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told The Independent. “This has nothing to do with gender – it has everything to do with the fact that the President’s and the public’s trust in the media is at all time lows.”
And after the president told a Bloomberg reporter to be “quiet piggy,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the media should be grateful because Trump was giving them so much press access.
“Look, the president is very frank and honest with everyone in this room. He gets frustrated with reporters when you lie about him, when you spread fake news about him and his administration. But he is also the most transparent president in history,” she said at the time.
“I think the president being frank and open and honest to your faces rather than hiding behind your backs is a lot more respectful than what you saw in the last administration,” Leavitt added.
