Donald Trump’s goons have followed the lead of their boss to hurl twisted personal insults at a female CNN reporter for doing her job.
During a press gaggle in the Oval Office on Monday, CNN’s Kristen Holmes asked Trump about his shock decision to scale back joint U.S. and South Korea military drills, the day before they were due to begin.
The president shouted “QUIET!” at Holmes, calling her “disrespectful” before repeating, “BE QUIET! BE QUIET! You’re a fake reporter and you report fake news!”
Earlier, Holmes had asked Trump for his response to a remark by Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff about Trump’s close aide Natalie Harp, 35.
Ossoff said at a campaign rally on Sunday that Trump “doesn’t want to do the job. He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the Emir of Qatar.”
Trump asked “Who said that?,” and when told it was Ossoff, repeated his dated pop culture reference that the Democrat is a “Pee-wee Herman lookalike.”
“No, I would much rather do other things,” Trump said, before talking for over two minutes straight on his vanity ballroom and its underground military bunker, never referencing Harp.
Afterwards, the White House’s Rapid Response 47 X account shared Holmes’ question about Harp, cutting Trump’s meandering response down to just 20-seconds.
In a scathing post, the account called Holmes “a disgraceful, humiliating embarrassment to her alleged profession.” Referencing 16-year-old lifeguard Ryder Williams, who was present with Trump on Monday, the post said that the president “hosts a hero lifeguard in the Oval Office and she uses it as an opportunity to take a cheap shot about one of President Trump’s staffers.”
The post added, “These scumbags are the lowest of the low.”
Less than 30-minutes later, the Rapid Response account then got personal, roping Holmes’ family into its insults.
“Someday, your children will come across your disgusting and inhumane question,” the second post said, tagging Holmes’ account. “They will be sickened and embarrassed to have a parent be so callous and vindictive. It’s quite troubling.”
In a statement to the Daily Beast, a CNN spokesperson said, “Kristen Holmes is one of the most respected and accomplished journalists covering the White House.”
“This afternoon, she did her job and asked the President of the United States a tough, relevant, and newsworthy question on behalf of the American people. Public officials are free to challenge reporting they disagree with, but personal attacks on journalists for asking questions are beneath the office and inconsistent with the principles of a free press,” the statement continued.
“We stand firmly behind Kristen and reject these attacks in the strongest possible terms.”
CNN also directly responded to the Rapid Response’s post about Holmes’s children by sharing its statement.
CNN anchor Dana Bash also shared the cable network’s statement on X, adding that Holmes “is an outstanding reporter. Period.”
Holmes appeared on The Source with Jake Tapper and OutFront with Erin Burnett on Monday, with both programs playing Trump’s abusive comments about her in her presence.
“You were in the Oval asking questions about Trump’s stance on South Korea... he responded as he often does with tough, smart women,” Tapper said introducing Holmes, then played Trump’s “QUIET” response on air.
Holmes did not directly address Trump’s personal attacks against her on either show, and merely discussed the issues she was asking the president about.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
