JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. (TNND) — President Donald Trump berated a reporter on Thursday after being asked whether he was skipping a weekend campaign rally in Kansas due to his health or if he is tired of traveling amid a multi-state campaign blitz.
“How are you feeling? How is your health?’ the reporter asked the president.
Trump responded by saying he was feeling “very good” and added that he thinks many Republicans will win midterm elections on Tuesday.
The reporter then asked whether Trump’s decision not to attend the event had anything to do with being “sick of travel.” Trump responded by calling the reporter “sick” and asking which outlet the reporter worked for.
“I’m with Reuters, sir,” the journalist, who did not identify himself by name, replied.
“You are a sick guy. Reuters is terrible, by the way,” Trump said, before criticizing the reporter’s appearance.
“Look at this guy. He’s way out of shape,” Trump said, also calling the reporter “disgusting” and telling him to “put yourself in shape.”
“You look like hell,” Trump added.
Trump denied that health concerns were behind the change to his schedule, saying he felt “perfect.” He said he did not believe he needed to travel to Kansas because Republican Sen. Roger Marshall was “doing very well.” The president also said he would participate in a tele-rally instead.
The planned Saturday rally was among Trump’s final in-person campaign stops before the midterm elections. The White House said he would take part in more than 20 tele-rallies before Election Day, allowing him to connect with voters in multiple states.
Trump was still scheduled to travel to Florida on Friday and Iowa on Sunday. The Kansas race is considered competitive, with Marshall facing Democratic challenger Adam Hamilton.
Trump’s remarks came after two other recent spats with members of the media. He lashed out at CNN’s Kaitlan Collins during an exchange outside the White House on October 22, calling the reporter “a low-IQ person” and “a dummy.”
“You don’t know anything,” Trump told Collins.
The confrontation occurred as Collins pressed Trump on whether his decision to waive sanctions on Russia was connected to the release of Stephen Hubbard, an American teacher who had been detained there since 2022.
Trump defended his negotiations with Russia over the release, with Collins continuing to press him on his claims.
Trump said the sanctions decision was necessary during negotiations and argued that Hubbard would not have been released otherwise. Collins responded that such a statement amounted to saying the administration had given something in exchange for the release.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Trump told Collins. “You’re a dummy. You’re a low-IQ person. You’re a dummy and you work for CNN.”
“If I’m negotiating to get a man back, a man we’ve wanted back for years, a man that was a prisoner in Siberia or someplace in Russia, we’re getting him back because of me,” he added.
Collins had asked whether the sanctions waiver was tied to Hubbard’s release after Trump said he did not give anything up to secure the American’s return. The president rejected the premise of her question while maintaining that the decision helped make the release possible.
“Use your head,” he said.
Trump also clashed with at a reporter during a news conference in the Oval Office on October 20. Trump’s Rapid Response Team identified the journalist as Andrew Feinberg, who is a correspondent for the Independent.
It went down as Trump took questions from the press. The president grew visibly irritated during the exchange and questioned the reporter directly.
“What’s wrong with you?” Trump asked. “Are you a sick person?”
“Not that I know of, sir” the reporter replied.
“I actually think there’s something wrong with you,” Trump said.
Trump told Feinberg to “be careful” after Feinberg questioned why a new whistleblower program offered a 1% commission when the False Claims Act can award whistleblowers at least 10%. Vice President JD Vance called it a “fundamentally dishonest question.”
“Over 99% of the fraud that we’re finding in the federal government isn’t covered by the False Claims Act,” Vance said. “What the president is saying is that he wants all fraud to be the sort of thing where if you find it, if you uncover it, if you find evidence and allow us to undo the money, you should benefit, not just the very narrow slice that’s covered by the False Claims Act.”
Trump later made the “are you a sick person?” comment when Feinberg began asking about Trump’s golf courses. Trump cut him off with “quiet,” so the full question was not completed or publicly reported.
Source: turnto10.com
