Trump Press Secretary Defends President After Viral ‘Piggy’ Comment Toward Reporter
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt addressed the viral clip of President Donald Trump calling a female reporter “Piggy” during a press interaction aboard Air Force One last week.
The incident occurred on Friday, Nov. 14, when Bloomberg correspondent Catherine Lucey asked the president about the Epstein files. After Trump described his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein as “bad,” Lucey attempted a follow-up question, saying, “Sir, if there’s nothing incriminating in the files…” Trump abruptly cut her off, pointing at her and snapping, “Quiet. Quiet, Piggy,” before moving on to other questions.
Speaking during a press briefing on Thursday, Nov. 20, Leavitt characterized the moment as a reflection of Trump’s candid and straightforward style.
“Look, the president is very frank and honest with everyone in this room,” she said. “You’ve all seen it yourselves. You’ve all experienced it yourselves. And I think it’s one of the many reasons the American people reelected this president, because of his frankness.”
Leavitt defended Trump’s interactions with the press, emphasizing his commitment to transparency. “He calls out fake news when he sees it. He gets frustrated with reporters when you lie about him, when you spread fake news about him and his administration,” she continued. “But he also is the most transparent president in history, and he gives all of you in this room unprecedented access. You are in the Oval Office almost every day, asking the president questions.”
She contrasted Trump’s approach with that of previous administrations. “I think the president being frank and open and honest to your faces, rather than hiding behind your backs, is frankly a lot more respectful than what you saw in the last administration, where you had a president who would lie to your face and then didn’t speak to you for weeks,” Leavitt said. “I think everyone in this room should appreciate the frankness and the openness that you get from President Trump on a near-daily basis.”
Leavitt’s comments followed a White House statement issued the day prior defending Trump’s remark. The statement described Lucey as having “behaved in an inappropriate and unprofessional way towards her colleagues on the plane” and added, “If you’re going to give it, you have to be able to take it.” The official did not clarify what conduct was deemed inappropriate.
The “Piggy” incident is the latest in a series of tense exchanges between Trump and female reporters. Days later, during a joint press conference with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Trump scolded journalists for “embarrassing our guest” and had a heated exchange with ABC’s Mary Bruce regarding Epstein.
“People are wise to your hoax,” Trump said angrily. “ABC, your company, your crappy company is one of the perpetrators. And I’ll tell you something, I think the license should be taken away from ABC because your news is so fake and is so wrong. And we have a great commissioner, a chairman, who should look at that.”
Trump continued to criticize the network, claiming it was “not credible” due to its overwhelmingly negative coverage of him during the 2020 election. He chastised the way Bruce asked her question, saying, “You’re not after the radical left because you’re a radical left network. But I think the way you ask a question with the anger and the meanness is terrible. You ought to go back and learn how to be a reporter. No more questions from you.”
