Donald Trump lashed out on Wednesday against a New York Times reporter, calling her “ugly inside and out” in his latest personal insult against female members of the media after last week calling another “piggy”.
In a Truth Social post, Trump criticitized the newspaper for an article suggesting he was running low on energy in his 80th year, insisting he has “never worked so hard in my life”.
Trump specifically targeted one of the authors. “The writer of the story, Katie Rogers, who is assigned to write only bad things about me, is a third rate reporter who is ugly, both inside and out,” he wrote.
Rumors surrounding the president’s health have been circulating for months, with more questions raised after Trump admitted to having an MRI last month. He claimed it was part of a standard physical and would not reveal what body part the test had analyzed.
On Tuesday, the Times wrote that Trump is exhibiting “signs of fatigue” as he “faces realities of aging in office”.
Trump, now the oldest person ever to hold the presidency, was said to have appeared drowsy at a 6 November Oval Office event, where his “eyelids drooped until his eyes were almost closed, and he appeared to doze on and off for several seconds”.
Charlie Stadtlander, a spokesperson for the paper, defended its journalists.
“The Times’s reporting is accurate and built on first hand reporting of the facts. Name-calling and personal insults don’t change that, nor will our journalists hesitate to cover this administration in the face of intimidation tactics like this,” he said in a statement.
“Expert and thorough reporters like Katie Rogers exemplify how an independent and free press helps the American people better understand their government and its leaders,” it reads.
Trump, who has a history of making extremely personal attacks on female journalists, referred to a Bloomberg News correspondent as a “piggy” during a clash onboard Air Force One less than two weeks ago.
When Catherine Lucey, Bloomberg’s White House correspondent, started to ask why Trump was behaving the way he was regarding the Epstein files “if there’s nothing incriminating in the files”, Trump pointed at her and said: “Quiet. Quiet, piggy.”
Last week, after facing questioning from Mary Bruce, an ABC News White House correspondent about the murder of Jamal Khashoggi and the Epstein scandal, Trump responded “It’s not the question that I mind. It’s your attitude. I think you are a terrible reporter – it’s the way you ask these questions,” adding “You’re a terrible person and a terrible reporter.”
Trump has a long history of reserving his harshest criticisms for women, calling female journalists “nasty” and referencing menstruation to dismiss questions from Megyn Kelly.
