White House praises Trump’s ‘Piggy’ Outburst as “Blunt Transparency,” While Media Groups Condemn Escalating Hostility

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, defended President Donald Trump on Thursday after a video of him telling a reporter to be “Quiet. Quiet, Piggy.” went viral.

Leavitt told reporters the moment showed the president was blunt and open, not rude. She said that frank answers are part of what voters liked about him.

The exchange happened on Friday, November 14, aboard Air Force One when Bloomberg correspondent Catherine Lucey pressed the president about files related to Jeffrey Epstein. Mr. Trump cut her off and pointed at her.

Leavitt said the outburst was evidence of candor. “Look, the president is very frank & honest with everyone in this room,” she said. “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.”

She added that the president reacts when he sees what he calls false reports. “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 continued. “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 said. “I think everyone in this room should appreciate the frankness and the openness that you get from President Trump on a near daily basis.”

The White House had earlier pushed back in a statement to PEOPLE, saying, “This reporter behaved in an inappropriate and unprofessional way towards her colleagues on the plane.” The statement added, “If you’re going to give it, you have to be able to take.” The White House did not say what Lucey had done that was inappropriate.

News organizations and many on social media pushed back. Bloomberg said its journalists do a public service by asking hard questions and must be allowed to do that.

A few days after the Air Force One exchange, the president had another tense run in with a woman reporter during a White House event with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. That moment added fuel to a wider debate about how this administration treats the press.

Reactions on X came in fast and fierce. The posts we include here capture the mood, from eye rolling to outright outrage.

Featured image via Youtube screengrab