President Donald Trump’s top communications goon used revolting language to attack a Senate aide in a petty squabble.
Steven Cheung said the abelist slur “r----d” after getting sucked into a bizarre war of words with Rachel Cohen, 38, the communications director for Virginia senator Mark Warner.
She had questioned why CNN booked former Department of Homeland Security communications assistant Tricia McLaughlin, who left the administration in February.
“She is easily the most mendacious spokesperson I’ve had the displeasure of encountering in 15 years of doing this,” Cohen, who is also Senate Intelligence Committee communications director, said. “What could she POSSIBLY have to say that adds to viewers’ understanding of anything??”
McLaughlin earned a reputation as one of the most outspoken and staunch public supporters of Trump’s immigration policies, but since leaving the role has struggled to find a job in the conservative news media space, according to a report from the Daily Mail.
Cheung, 43, who Trump has referred to as his “sumo wrestler” and said was a user of GLP-1, is no stranger to spats on X in the name of MAGA. He regularly hurls insults at people online, and leaped in to defend his former colleague, McLaughlin.
“Don’t be jealous you’ll never get booked on TV because you’re a loser,” he said to Cohen. “[McLaughlin] is one of the best communicators around. You can learn a thing or two from her. But you won’t because, again, you’re a loser.”
Cohen swung back. “Hey Steven, remember the time you were so bad at your job the West Wing called to ask us to intervene with the media to protect national security?” she said. “Because you couldn’t get it done? I was told you were the one handling that story. I’d be happy to teach you how to do it next time!”
The Daily Beast has contacted the Senate Intelligence Committee for more information on Cohen’s claims.
Cheung, however, came back harder, telling Cohen: “Hey r----d, you must be thinking of someone else. Nobody would ask your simple a-- for help.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment on his use of the slur.
It’s not the first time Cheung has melted down in front of the world’s eyes.
When comedian Jimmy Kimmel refused to apologize for saying Melania Trump had “a glow like an expectant widow,” Cheung launched into one of his trademark keyboard tirades.
“Jimmy Kimmel is a s--t human being for: #1. Making a disgusting joke about assassinating the President #2. Doubling down on that joke instead of doing the decent thing by apologizing,” he said. “ABC needs to fire him immediately and he should be shunned for the rest of his life.”
His words came before a gunman charged the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday, with Cheung and other White House figures claiming Kimmel had been inciting violence. Kimmel stringently denied it, said it was standard political humor, and pointed to his track record of condemning gun violence.
In mid-April, New York Rep. Dan Goldman expressed his concern over a Wall Street Journal article that said Trump, 79, had thrown a tantrum when two fighters went missing in Iran and was subsequently omitted from the command room. In that instance, Chueng’s typing fingers and thumbs once again leaped to action.
“The commander-in-chief was excluded from commanding a military operation because he was acting so crazy. Think about that,” Goldman, 50, wrote on X. “Trump is not well. We need the 25th Amendment before something really bad happens on U.S. soil.”
“Think about this: you, a sitting U.S. congressman, getting duped by fake news,” Cheung said. “Just imagine how easily you might be compromised.”
