Cokie Roberts Dies At 75, Trump Says ‘She Never Treated Me Nicely’ As He Offers Family Condolences
The death of Cokie Roberts has rocked the news world. The legendary news journalist and political commentator passed away on September 17 from complications from breast cancer at age 75, as reported by The Inquisitr.
Roberts, an Award-winning NPR and ABC News journalist who chronicled Washington politics from Jimmy Carter to Donald Trump for more than four decades, was remembered by colleagues in the news world and by four of the five of the living U.S. presidents. But not all of the presidents were on the same page with their sentiments about the news veteran.
Former President Bill Clinton took to Twitter to write that he liked and respected Roberts very much.
“She understood people and politics,” Clinton wrote, per Deadline.
“For nearly half a century, she was an institution in American journalism—tough but fair, insightful, and with a voice all her own. She’ll be missed.”
Former President George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush issued a statement in which they described Roberts as “a talented, tough, and fair reporter.”
“We respected her drive and appreciated her humor. She became a friend,” the Bushes said.
And in another statement, Barack and Michelle Obama remembered Roberts as a trailblazer and a role model and mentor to young women at a time when the news profession was still dominated by men.
“She will be missed — and we send our condolences to her family,” the Obamas said of Roberts.
Donald Trump also issued a statement on Roberts’ death as he traveled with a pool of reporters on Air Force One on Tuesday. The 45th U.S. president admitted he had never met the longtime ABC News correspondent, per The Washington Post.
“I never met her. She never treated me nicely. But I would like to wish her family well. She was a professional, and I respect professionals …. She was a real professional. Never treated me well, but I certainly respect her as a professional.”
Trump’s swipe at Roberts is not a total surprise, although under the circumstances it was certainly in bad form. The late news veteran was not a fan of the former Apprentice star and went so far as to call GOP politicians who supported his journey to the presidency “morally tainted” in a 2016 appearance on Morning Joe, per the Huffington Post.
Roberts, whose parents were elected to Congress as Democrats in Louisiana, noted that nobody has “ever seen anything like this” in regards to the divide in the country during Trump’s presidential campaign. She also fiercely criticized Trump in a column she co-wrote in which she asked “the rational wing” of the Republican Party to stop his impending 2016 presidential nomination.
