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Another instance of President Donald Trump taking questions from the media has resulted in yet another example of him taking a personal shot at a female journalist. This time, one of the most prominent Black women covering Washington, D.C., was the target of a remark by Trump that trotted out a negative trope long used against Black women.
Trump gets testy with ‘big-time reporter’ Alcindor and calls her ‘very aggressive’
Trump’s latest insult came during an exchange with NBC News Washington correspondent Yamiche Alcindor during a Friday press conference in the Oval Office. Trump initially had a cordial if slightly odd exchange with Alcindor, who asked him, “Do you intend on seizing more oil assets from Venezuela?” Trump declined to answer, saying, “Well, I wouldn’t tell you that. It wouldn’t be very smart for me to tell you that.” He added, “You’re a very big-time reporter, and I don’t think I want to tell a big-time reporter, or a small-time reporter that.”
Things turned less cordial when Alcindor attempted to ask the president a second question, calling out “Mr. President” to be called upon.
“No, no, wait, wait, wait. You have to be nice and easy,” Trump told Alcindor. He then turned to someone standing behind him and remarked, “She’s very aggressive,” before calling on a different reporter.
Trump’s history of attacking Alcindor and other women journalists
Trump has a history of insulting exchanges with Alcindor. During his first term, Trump insulted her, claiming that she asked “such a racist question” when she inquired in 2018 about his self-identification as a “nationalist” and the possible emboldening of white nationalists as a result of this rhetoric. During that same press conference, Trump repeatedly told reporter April Ryan to “sit down” as she asked him about voter suppression. More recently, when Alcindor questioned Trump in September about his rhetoric about “going to war” in Chicago by sending federal troops into the city, Trump responded, “Be quiet, listen. You don’t listen. You never listen. That’s why you’re second-rate.”
It is unclear whether Trump’s comment about Alcindor being “a big-time reporter” may be a reference to this earlier exchange.
Trump’s latest comments against Alcindor fit into a growing pattern in recent weeks of the president hurling personal insults toward female reporters as he faces questions on an increasing list of controversial topics, from foreign policy to Jeffrey Epstein. Last week, Trump called ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott “obnoxious” and “terrible” and accused her network of engaging in “fake news” after she accurately quoted him concerning the release of a video on a controversial strike against an alleged drug smuggling boat. Before that, Trump snapped, “Quiet Piggy,” at a female Bloomberg reporter who asked about Trump’s connection to Epstein. Trump called a third female reporter “stupid” for asking about the administration’s vetting of an Afghan man suspected of shooting two National Guard members, and the president separately called New York Times journalist Katie Rogers “a third-rate reporter who is ugly, both inside and out” after she coauthored a story about Trump’s health and cognitive fitness.
Trump appears to grow increasingly testy with negative coverage of a long list of issues related to his presidency or personal conduct, and he continues to lash out at women in journalism for asking him questions. His accusation against Alcindor for being “aggressive,” a common trope of misogynoir, is just the latest example of how female journalists, and particularly Black women in media, seem to get under the president’s skin.
