{"id":5633,"date":"2026-02-24T15:55:50","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T15:55:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/?p=5633"},"modified":"2026-02-24T15:55:50","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T15:55:50","slug":"opinion-examining-donald-trumps-language-toward-female-reporters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/?p=5633","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: Examining Donald Trump\u2019s Language Toward Female Reporters"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>4 Minute, 4 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n

Recent attention has been drawn to a clip of CNN reporter, Kaitlan Collins, with
President Trump. Footage from the Oval Office shows Trump instructing her to
\u2018smile\u2019 and then proceeding to call her the \u2018worst reporter\u2019.This hostile moment
was not isolated and reflects a pattern of Trump clashing with the media. Yet it
is arguable that recently there has been a stark increase in personal attacks
Trump has directed at female reporters, which have moved beyond the scope of
professional criticism, rather serving to delegitimise the press, intimidate female
journalists and normalise misogynistic discourse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Many have noted that Trump uses insults to attack women\u2019s appearance. An incident that received vast attention was the \u2018Quiet, piggy\u2019 remark Trump directed at Bloomberg\u2019s Catherine Lucey while she questioned him about the Epstein files. Many noticed the lack of support from other journalists after this
incident. The lack of intervention may suggest other journalists feared also being targeted, underscoring how the President is perceived to be creating a climate of fear during his press briefings; a worrying prospect for objective journalism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another moment when Trump attacked a female journalist\u2019s appearance was when he called New York Times\u2019 Katie Rogers \u2018ugly, both inside and out.\u2019 Trump not only uses insults attacking female reporters\u2019
appearance, but he also utilises harsh remarks attempting to undermine their intelligence. Trump behaved badly in a pattern of attacks on female journalists’ intelligence, using the word \u2018stupid\u2019 in his heated exchanges. He asked Nancy Cordes from CBS, \u2018Are you a stupid person\u2019, while similarly telling CNN reporter Abby Phillip she had asked a \u2018stupid question\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These attacks on female journalists arguably represent the President\u2019s misogynistic outlook towards
female journalists. Other high-profile moments in which Trump has been considered to attack female journalists include when he dismissed ABC reporters Karen Travers and Mary Bruce. He labelled Karen Travers \u2018very loud\u2019 and referred to Mary Bruce as \u2018terrible\u2019 and \u2018insubordinate\u2019. Viewing these
comments directed towards female reporters as a collective, clearly, there is a systematic pattern in Trump\u2019s attitude towards female reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, recognise that female journalists of colour tend to face intensified attacks from the President during their reporting. During the pandemic, Trump gained attention for telling a female Asian American Journalist Weijia Jiang, to \u2018ask China\u2019 about COVID-19. Trump proceeded to call her \u2018nasty\u2019 and
instructed her to be quiet. To many, these remarks are frequently cited as examples of Trump\u2019s aggressive attitude toward female journalists of ethnic-minorities. Black women reporters also have encountered hostile exchanges during press briefings. Notably, Yamiche Alcindor was accused of asking a \u2018racist question\u2019 and was labelled as \u2018threatening\u2019 while April Ryan was termed a \u2018loser\u2019 who \u2018doesn\u2019t know what the hell she\u2019s doing\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interestingly, Professor Ava Thompson Greenwell believes the interactions between Trump and black female reporters stand out immensely since historically, reporters covering the White House were white males. Thompson Greenwell similarly alludes to black female reporters acting as unique targets
for Trump\u2019s \u2018tongue lashings\u2019. Following this, CNN\u2019s Abby Phillip remarked on Trump\u2019s intolerance towards reporters of colour suggesting him \u2018making assumptions about reporters based on their ethnicity is a pattern here\u2019. Clearly, Trump\u2019s attitude towards female reporters is his deliberate attempt to humiliate them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, and spokeswoman Abigail Jackson, argue that the attacks the President makes towards reporters have \u2018nothing to do with gender\u2019 in an attempt to undermine the allegations of the President\u2019s misogynistic approach towards female reporters. Karoline Leavitt especially argues that the Trump administration is transparent and suggests the insults used by Trump are an act of \u2018transparency\u2019 and the President being \u2018frank and honest\u2019 regarding \u2018fake news\u2019. The administration often argues the reporters are the ones who behave badly, thus reversing accountability and presenting Trump as a victim of \u2018fake news\u2019. In addition, the White House
website also has a feature showcasing \u2018Media Offenders\u2019. This feature of the website effectively shames reporters whom the Trump administration perceives as biased. Women are commonly placed as the \u2018Media Offender of the Week\u2019. As a consequence of Trump\u2019s abuse, female reporters who have been insulted by him are more vulnerable to harassment from his followers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This has a chilling effect on journalism since it discourages female journalists from being
assertive within their roles. Indeed, this behaviour is likely to affect female students who may be considering a career in journalism, specifically those who are interested in covering the White House. Moreover, the President\u2019s language directed towards female journalists is bound to have a societal impact through normalising misogynistic language towards women and reinforcing a culture in
America and the wider world where women feel as if they are less valued in professional spaces. Ultimately, President Trump’s approach to dealing with questions from female journalists is commonly regarded as lacking basic professional respect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Image – (Jabin Botsford\/The Washington Post)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edited by Freya Holland<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n

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Trump’s approach to dealing with female journalists is commonly regarded as lacking basic respect.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":138,"featured_media":5634,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[66,12,193,37,414],"tags":[108,192,81,436,218],"class_list":["post-5633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gender","category-latest","category-opinion","category-us","category-us-politics","tag-gender","tag-opinion","tag-politics","tag-trump","tag-us-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/138"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}