We may be used to it by now, but it’s dangerous to get used to it. His colleagues should have spoken.
Catherine Lucey, covering the White House for Bloomberg News, does what journalists have to do Was doing: asking necessary questions.
The question he asked Donald Trump during a “gaggle” on Air Force One a few days ago was apt because it was related to the publication of the Epstein files, which is certainly a matter of great public interest. He asked, “If there was nothing incriminating in the files, why was Trump relenting?”
However, his answer was not completely correct.
It was insulting, demeaning, and misogynistic. He pointed directly at Lucy and told her to stop her work.
“Quiet. Quiet, Piggy,” the President of the United States said.
From what I understand, none of his colleagues in the press corps immediately rose to his defense. The conversation went on—in a sense, as usual.
And yet, if I were making a timeline of Trump’s use of the press as a punching bag, this moment would deserve a place. Perhaps this was his cue. Perhaps it was his direct order, as if he were in charge of what journalists were allowed to ask.
Maybe—just maybe—this was a verbal abuse meant to put a reporter in his place before the world. It was due to the lack of protest from other journalists.
After all, this is life in Trump’s America. Consider what happened yesterday.
Trump praised the Saudi Crown Prince, who, according to a 2021 US intelligence report, approved the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. (The Crown Prince has denied involvement in the murder.) The US president gave him a hero’s welcome at the White House.
Trump insulted and threatened ABC News and its good reporter, Mary Bruce, who also asked important questions about the Khashoggi and Epstein files. He said, “I think you’re a terrible reporter. The way you ask these questions is terrible.” He called ABC a “shit company” and said, “ABC should have its license taken away because your news is so fake and inaccurate.” We should be used to this by now.
Obviously, the president’s ardent supporters should approve of this kind of thing; they see it as a way the president is using his power and position to undermine the “elites” they’ve been taught to hate.
But it’s dangerous to get used to it. We all get tired. “What can you do?” Even the caring among us shrug.
But, to me, “Calm down, piggy” somehow breaks down. This should be far-fetched, not business as usual.
Wouldn’t it have been something special to see the entire press yelling at Trump in defense of their colleague? Wouldn’t it have been something different to see him break away from the pack?
Why didn’t they do it?
Bill Gruskin, former editor of the Miami Herald and Wall Street Journal and professor at Columbia Journalism School, posted on BlueSky, “Because every day of the week, access is better than solidarity.” If any member of the press corps had somehow managed to defend their colleague, they would undoubtedly have been punished by being kicked out of these press briefings.
So, yes, there’s an access problem. And I’m sad to say, they don’t even protest because they’re used to it. After all, this isn’t new. It’s just a very bad example of something that’s been going on for years.
I’ve been observing Trump’s actions for a long time. I was a media columnist for the Washington Post during Trump’s entire first term, so I had a chance to see up close how he consistently disrespected the press and its representatives—especially women, and especially women of color.
For example, he frequently confronted Yamiche Alcindor, who covered the White House for PBS NewsHour at the time, and criticized her supposedly “bad” questions. This year, he called Alcindor, who now works for NBC, “second-rate” and told her to “shut up.” He also publicly called longtime White House reporter April Ryan a “loser.”
Nothing changes—it only gets worse—because Trump gets away with it. His die-hard supporters don’t care. Members of the press corps may (or may not) write strongly worded letters, but they, too, normalize it by doing nothing.
Will this “quiet, piggy” moment matter? Only to those who care about civility in government officials and American society.
Perhaps this is outdated thinking. And I’m not sure enough of us remember that it matters.
