Former President Donald Trump verbally attacked PBS reporter Liz Landers after she questioned him about election documents, calling her “a bad reporter.”
Incident at the White House
The incident occurred during a brief media appearance as Trump was leaving the White House on Wednesday. PBS News Hour reporter Liz Landers asked why the FBI had taken election documents from Arizona.
“Well, we thought the elections were rigged, right?” Trump responded. When Landers disputed this, Trump asked, “Really? How do you know?”
Trump’s Response
Landers reminded Trump that in 2020, Attorney General William Barr, whom he had appointed, stated that no election fraud had occurred. Trump interrupted, “Really? You don’t think it was staged? I think it was staged. And if you claim it wasn’t, then you’re a bad reporter,” before walking away.
Pattern of Attacking Journalists
This is not the first time Trump has attacked journalists after asking questions he dislikes. In February at the White House, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins asked what Trump would say to victims of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Trump responded, “You’re a young woman, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile. I’ve known you for ten years. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile. You know why you don’t smile? Because you know you’re not telling the truth and you’re with a very dishonest organization. They should be ashamed of you.”
Previous Confrontations
In November last year, Bloomberg reporter Catherine Lucey asked why Trump hadn’t declassified Epstein documents if there was nothing incriminating in them. “Quiet, quiet, pig,” Trump said to her. The documents were eventually declassified in late December.
At a Thanksgiving press conference at Mar-a-Lago, Trump argued with CBS News reporter Nancy Cordes. Cordes asked why Trump blamed the Joe Biden administration for an Afghan’s shooting of two National Guard members. “Because they let them in. Are you stupid? They flew in by plane with thousands of other people who shouldn’t be here, and you ask such questions because you’re stupid,” Trump replied.
