An angry President Donald Trump has been at it again, calling a female reporter “stupid” when he didn’t like her question about forcing the Senate to miss its August recess in order to pass his unpopular election restriction bill.
It happened Monday during a press gaggle aboard Air Force One after Trump had earlier insisted Senate Majority Leader John Thune cancel the upcoming break until lawmakers pass his SAVE America Act.
The SAVE America Act would require proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate, to register to vote, a nationwide requirement to show a photo ID at the polls, mandate states share voter registration rolls with the Department of Homeland Security, and criminal penalties for local election officials who do not follow all the rules.
Trump Slams Reporter for Question
“On the SAVE Act, why do you want the U.S. Senate to stay in town?” CBS News’ Jennifer Jacobs asked Trump aboard Air Force One, trying to finish her question as Trump interrupted, “Shouldn’t they be out across the country campaigning?”
“What a stupid question,” he snapped.
“Shouldn’t they be out campaigning, though?” Jacobs pressed.
“What a stupid question,” Trump repeated, but he wasn’t done insulting her.
“For Jennifer to ask such a stupid question, she’s a smart person. I knew her all the way back in the Iowa days when she said Trump’s going to win, and, boy, was she right,” he crowed, but he did answer her question.
“The SAVE Act has to be done. They shouldn’t leave town,” Trump demanded.
“I’m not going to stop them from doing it, but they should get the SAVE Act done. If they don’t get it done, it’s going to be a very bad thing for the party. And frankly, you know, if you look at it, the SAVE Act is going to be voted against by all Democrats,” he added before criticizing GOP holdouts.
“Just so we know, we have some Republicans that I will not comment on, a few of them, probably four that we probably won’t get their vote. I’d like to comment on them, but I have too much sense to do it,” he added.
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Social Media Reacts
Social media erupted with a frenzy of anti-Trump comments and criticisms.
“Every question he doesn’t want to answer he decides the person asking is stupid. It’s a tactic, and it’s pretty ‘stupid’ on his part,” a Threads user noted.
Another observed, “What is he talking about? That guy can’t finish one sentence without the subject going from left to right, beside the question and full of lies and nonsense
This poster remarked about Trump bragging that Jacobs correctly predicted he would win the 2016 election against former Secretary of State and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
“Always goes back to how wonderful he is. I don’t care what the question or discussion is about he will make it about him and how great he is.”
Another reminisced about what were once political norms that Trump upended with his 2016 presidential campaign.
“Remember when politicians had tact?”
Trump is known for repeatedly calling reporters names, especially women, when he doesn’t like their questions, which is often.
And he’s extremely testy about Congress’ inability to pass his severe voter restriction bill.
There’s no Democratic support in the Senate for what critics have called an anti-voting measure. And nowhere near enough Republican senators, including Thune, support ending the filibuster rule so the SAVE Act could pass that chamber by a simple majority instead of 60 votes. The four Republicans Trump referred to in his reply voted against adding a version of the SAVE Act to a reconciliation bill in June, a maneuver that still would not have guaranteed the measure would pass.
