CBS News reporter Norah O'Donnell recently sat down for an interview with President Donald Trump that left some MAGA faithful furious.
While it's not exactly unusual for MAGA loyalists to take issue with reporters who are outside of the conservative media machine, this time their anger was not because O'Donnell asked the president hard questions or fact-checked him on air. They're mad because she referred to him as "Mr Trump" instead of "President Trump."
"I hate when they call him, 'Mr Trump!' He is the PRESIDENT. 60 Minutes doesn't deserve to interview him - let's see how they spin this," one X user wrote.
O'Donnell interviewed Trump for the most recent episode of 60 Minutes, discussing topics ranging from the food insecurity facing Americans amid the ongoing government shutdown to CBS News’ new leadership under Bari Weiss.
But despite the breadth of the conversation, many viewers couldn't let the honorific go without comment.
“You do realize that he’s the president the whole time you called him, Mr. TRUMP. You should be a little bit more humble. He just took millions from your corrupt network and you have the nerve to call him Mr. TRUMP and not Mr. PRESIDENT you’re a bunch of scumbags you’re fake news,” another user, seemingly adopting Trump’s grammatical stylings, wrote.
That user was referencing the fact that Paramount Global, CBS News’s parent company, chose to pay Trump a $16 million settlement after he sued, claiming that 60 Minutes heavily edited an interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 election.
Despite the uproar, using a president's last name is not inherently a slight, nor is it something done only to Trump.
NPR published an article during Barack Obama’s first term in office explaining why it refers to presidents using their last name on second and subsequent references. It was published in response to Democrats complaining that the broadcaster referred to the then-commander-in-chief as "Mr Obama" on second reference.
Finally, common ground in these fractured political times.
Here's how NPR explained its stance more than a decade ago:
"Although many listeners find this second reference offensive, it is not a new policy. NPR has used 'Mr.' since the mid-1970s when President Gerald Ford was in office. The president is the only person whom NPR routinely refers to with the Mr. honorific on second reference. If NPR does a story, say on James Hamilton, an Ohio car dealer, he will be Hamilton on second reference, not Mr. Hamilton."
NPR said at the time that it received complaints from listeners every time it referred to Obama as "Mr Obama." The same thing is happening today, only it's wearing a red MAGA hat.
"No less than twice during the Trump 60 minutes interview, the narrator said MR Trump not President Trump. This is not by accident," another X user wrote, striking a somewhat more conspiratorial tone. "Pay attention."
Some of the commenters seemed to get weirdly defensive about Trump, with one — going by the name "Gina Zippi Hicks" — calling O'Donnell a "disrespectful skank" over the honorific. Another asked why O'Donnell must "undermine the presidency" by refusing to call Trump "President Trump."
Despite some tense moments, Trump's presidency didn't seem especially under threat by the interview. On Monday, the White House issued a statement calling his appearance a "powerhouse interview" that highlighted the "most accomplished nine months of any presidency in history."
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