Donald Trump made an appearance at the National Mall on Thursday, where restoration work is going on at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. An ABC reporter, Rachel Scott, asked the 79-year-old president about the current gas prices and ongoing tension with Iran.
She asked, “Mr. President, you are here against the backdrop of the war in Iran. Why focus on all these projects right now? We’re still seeing gas prices soaring?”
Trump did not let her finish and lashed out, “You know why? Because I want to keep our country beautiful and safe. Beautiful also. That’s such a stupid question that you asked… You can understand dirt better than I can, baby, but I don’t allow it.”
He continued talking to the people around him, “She’s with ABC fake news, and she’s a horror show. A question like that is a disgrace to our country.” After this, he appears to be mouthing the derogatory slur “b—h” while walking away to his limousine.
Trump calls the question “stupid” and says the reporter, a woman, is “a horror show.”
Trump routinely insults female reporters. Insults he’s directed at them since November:
—“Quiet, piggy.”
—“A terrible person and terrible reporter.”
—“Ugly, both inside and out.”
More… https://t.co/nkgYVgRuQn
— Paul Farhi (@farhip) May 8, 2026
The video went viral, and netizens started calling out Trump over his repeated disrespect towards reporters. There is no audio of him using the slur, but many understood what he said with his lip movement. One user commented, “Oh my goodness. Trump does appear to be saying, “She’s a b—h.”
Another one asked, “And that other guy he’s talking to just smiles?” The third one agreed, “And his yes men laugh, disgusting!” One more chimed in, “Another unprecedented action by our ‘Fearless Leader.’” Many pointed out that he called the reporter both baby and b—h.
Trump appears to have called ABC reporter Rachel Scott a “bitch” as he walked away from the press.
On camera.
The same man who had the FCC open an investigation into ABC over a Jimmy Kimmel joke.
The same man whose press secretary lectured America about violent rhetoric after… pic.twitter.com/SUoJ8VRm8t
— Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) May 8, 2026
One X user encouraged reporters to keep asking him such questions: “We should keep questioning him like this until he crashes out.” Another one pointed out, “He tore down a wing of the White House, emptied the reflecting pool, and drove on it. And half of America shrugs.” One user added, “The midterms should humble him because it’s going to be brutal!”
When a normal question is asked that he dislikes, he attacks the reporter.
This is not a sign of strength. This is a sign of weakness and it is pathetic, just like him. https://t.co/rgH0gPB7B5
— Bonnie Boden (@designergirla) May 8, 2026
There have been several documented moments when Trump has responded in disrespectful ways in front of the camera. He called Scott a terrible reporter in 2025. In another incident, he had an outburst targeted at a reporter on Air Force One. The reporters asked him about the released emails from convicted s-x offender Jeffrey Epstein.
While Trump was asking the press to focus on other emails, Catherine Lucey, Bloomberg’s White House correspondent, tried asking another question on the same topic. Trump responded, “Quiet. Quiet, piggy.”
