Donald Trump has turned a routine immigration brag into yet another attack against a female reporter — this time taking aim at Fox News anchor Shannon Bream while accidentally reinventing the English language in the process.
In a lengthy post celebrating immigration enforcement figures, Trump claimed without evidence that he had overseen the highest average daily arrest rate by federal immigration authorities and the highest rate of removals of any president.
But buried in the self-congratulation was a jab aimed squarely at Bream, the former attorney who is now Fox’s legal correspondent and a host of Fox News Sunday, whom he described as “Milk Toast Shannon Bream.”
“So, when you hear these Anchors, Pundits, Dumocrats, and Communists, try to make the case that President Obama’s numbers are comparable to President Trump, it would be nice if people like “Milk Toast” Shannon Bream, and others, would put up a little fight—Just a little. Thank you for your attention to this matter!,” Trump wrote.
The problem: Trump appears to have meant “milquetoast,” not “milk toast.”
Milquetoast—a term meaning timid or unassertive—comes from the meek comic strip character Caspar Milquetoast, and has long been used to describe people perceived as overly cautious or bland.
The phrase has nothing to do with breakfast. As language nerds have pointed out, it’s not a dairy product—it’s a personality critique.
But Trump’s latest broadside nonetheless fits a familiar pattern of personal attacks on reporters, particularly women who ask him questions he doesn’t like.
Among them are CNN host Kaitlan Collins, who Trump has previously described as “the worst reporter” when she attempted to ask him about files relating to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile,” he told her at the time.
In November, he also told Bloomberg News correspondent Catherine Lucey, “quiet piggy” during a clash on board Air Force One.
A few weeks later, he lashed out at ABC White House Correspondent Mary Bruce, accusing her network of “being one of the perpetrators” of the so-called “Democratic hoax” into Epstein.
“I’ll tell you something. I think the license should be taken away from ABC, because your news is so fake and it’s so wrong,” a visibly angry Trump said at the time.
He also launched a furious tirade at 60 Minutes correspondent Norah O’Donnell in the wake of the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ dinner in April, merely 24 hours after telling reporters it was time for the nation to unite.
“You’re a disgrace,” he told O’Donnell after she asked about the shooter’s manifesto, which contained references apparently to a “rapist” and a “pedophile.”
The broader Fox News ecosystem has not been spared either. In April, the 80-year-old president sent out a late-night rant demanding that Fox News fire The Five’s liberal host Jessica Tarlov. He also hit out at Beam for having “lightweight Democrats” on her show.
Observers at the time pointed out that having all sides of a debate was good for journalism—and for freedom of speech.
