President Donald Trump has been caught on camera exploding at a female journalist who dared to ask about his fishy $1.35 trillion election bribe.
The confronting footage arose after Trump, 80, spoke to reporters on Thursday evening as he was flying out of Dallas after his two-day Republican midterm convention.
At the event on Wednesday, Trump revealed a wild plan to give every adult American $5,000 if the Republicans win the midterm elections in November.
He repeated the promise in his Thursday speech, but still had no details on how the scheme would actually work. Earlier that day, Trump told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham that he didn’t think he needed congressional approval “because we’ve made so much money.”
Based on the number of adult Americans, Trump’s promise could cost around $1.35 trillion, plunging the country into further debt and fueling inflation.
While the latest cash splash was greeted with cheers by the MAGA faithful at his sparsely attended Texas convention, the president was incensed when asked pertinent questions about what he branded “Trump dividends” as he headed back to the White House on Thursday evening.
ABC reporter Rachel Scott asked Trump about the motivation behind his $5,000 promise to lure voters to the polls, noting that America is already $40 trillion in debt.
“If your economic policies are working, why do you need an incentive for people to turn out to vote?” Scott asked Trump outside of Air Force One with a gaggle of other, mostly male, reporters.
The president said, “I didn’t do it for turning out to vote, I’m doing it as a reward for people having to put up with five years and four years of a horrible situation caused by Biden.”
Continuing to blame the former president for “just a horrible thing Biden did to our country,” Trump repeated that the $5,000 was “almost a reward for the people having to put up with Biden’s policy.”
Trump then turned to another reporter. When Scott attempted to ask a follow-up question, a normal journalistic practice, the president pointed at her and snapped, “Not you!”
Undeterred, she mentioned another previous cash splash that did not eventuate, asking him, “You also offered tariff refund checks...”
While she was still talking, Trump moved in close to Scott and said, “Not you! Hey!” and then barked loudly at her, “Not you!” His face appeared contorted as he shouted at the 33-year-old reporter.
An annoyed Trump pointed at Scott and said, “Your network and you, you’re the worst,” before taking a question from a male reporter.
Scott later posted the exchange on her X account, with the caption “My question to Trump tonight.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and ABC for comment.
One social media user told Scott that Trump “looked so unhinged when he lunged toward you and said `not you’. Yikes,” while another said she had asked “a good question that deserved an answer instead of wild eyed hateful avoidance.”
The senior president has a history of verbally attacking female journalists, including Scott.
Ahead of the 2024 election, Trump berated Scott as “rude” and “nasty” during an interview at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention in Chicago after she asked him about racist statements that he had previously made. Scott received death threats in the wake of the event.
Last December, he called Scott “obnoxious” and a “terrible reporter” when she asked him about the absence of video of a U.S. Navy strike on a Venezuelan boat, days after he said the video would be released.
Last November, he snapped “Quiet, piggy!” at Bloomberg reporter Catherine Lucey aboard Air Force One after she asked him about the Jeffrey Epstein files. In the same month, he called CBS News’ correspondent Nancy Cordes a “stupid person.”
Trump told American Urban Radio Networks reporter Ebony McMorris, “Quiet, you’re really obnoxious,” when she asked about the National Guard being sent into Memphis last September.
In May this year, Trump told 60 Minutes reporter Norah O’Donnell “You’re a disgrace,” and in June he called out CNN’s Kaitlan Collins for not smiling when she was questioning him about the Epstein files during a White House press conference.
She’s a young, beautiful woman, never smiles,“ Trump said of Collins. ”I never see a smile off her face, I see her standing there with hatred in her eyes.”
