Donald Trump Grew Irritated When Heavily Pregnant Reporter Slipped Out During Press Spray, Blasted Her Network
Donald Trump attacked NBC after he reportedly grew irritated when a heavily pregnant reporter from the network quietly slipped out of the room during a lengthy press spray this week.
As Bloomberg News reporter Josh Wingrove noted on Twitter, Trump seemed irked that reporter Hallie Jackson, who is working while being eight months pregnant, left while other reporters asked questions about the administration’s response to the coronavirus. Her exit prompted Trump to turn on NBC News.
“At one point during a lengthy pool spray shortly ago in the Cabinet Room, Trump got irritated when a (visibly pregnant) reporter from NBC, @HallieJackson, slipped quietly out of the room,” Wingrove wrote.
“He said NBC is worse than CNN, and that he made lots of money for NBC with The Apprentice.”
Jackson has continued working during the late stages of her pregnancy, often at a busy pace. After she served as a moderator for the Democratic primary debate ahead of the Nevada caucus last week, she told InStyle that it hasn’t always been easy juggling her daily MSNBC show duties with her duties calling for White House coverage, all while being pregnant.
“I was extremely fatigued in my first trimester, which I chalked up to usual overwork, until my partner Frank reminded me I’m growing a baby,” she told the magazine.
“I’ve also been very conscious of taking care of myself as much as possible by eating healthy, working out, and resting when I need to. None of those things would have ever taken precedence over work for me before my pregnancy, for better or for worse, so for me it’s been an unexpected shift in my priorities.”
Trump has been criticized for his treatment of members of the press, with critics saying he is unusually harsh on women reporters.
This perceived attitude has extended to other members of his administration as well, including a recent profanity-laced tirade that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reportedly leveled on NPR reporter Mary Louise Kelly.
As Mother Jones reported, Trump made it a point to praise Pompeo for the incident, in which he reportedly swore at Kelly following an interview after she asked questions about Trump’s attempts to pressure Ukraine into investigating potential rival Joe Biden. Pompeo also reportedly forced Kelly to identify Ukraine on an unlabeled map, then stormed out after she correctly identified it.
“That’s impressive Mike,” Trump said afterward. “That reporter couldn’t have done too good a job on you.”
Trump paused, then added one more thought.
“I think you did a good job on her, actually,” he said.
