The White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt spoke about the moment when President Trump called a reporter Piggy, and she tried to make it sound like he was being respectful in his own way. She brought it up during a Thursday briefing, and it was about the exchange on November 14 when he was asked about the Epstein files by Bloomberg reporter Catherine Lucey.
Trump said he had a bad relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, and when Lucey asked Sir, if there’s nothing incriminating in the files, she did not get to finish her thought. Trump cut her off and said Quiet. Quiet, Piggy, and then moved on to someone else in the room.
People had been criticizing that comment for days, but Leavitt tried to turn it around by saying he was just being honest. She told the room that the president is very frank and honest with everyone in this room, and she said you have all seen it yourselves.
She said he calls out fake news when he thinks he sees it and that he gets frustrated when reporters lie about him or the administration. She also claimed he is the most transparent president in history and that reporters get a huge amount of access since they are in the Oval Office almost every day asking him questions.
Leavitt continued by saying the president being frank and open and honest to your faces is more respectful than the last administration which she said lied to reporters and then would not talk to them for weeks. She finished that part by saying everyone should appreciate the frankness and the openness they get from him on a near daily basis.
Her comments came one day after the White House accused Lucey of acting in an inappropriate way on the plane. In a statement they said This reporter behaved in an inappropriate and unprofessional way towards her colleagues on the plane.
They also said If you’re going to give it, you have to be able to take. They did not explain why her question was called inappropriate or unprofessional and left it there without more detail.
