White House attacks CNN reporter for question on Trump aide

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The White House on Monday lashed out at a CNN reporter after she asked a question about President Donald Trump’s relationship with an aide, in the latest in a series of attacks on female journalists.

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During an event in the Oval Office, reporter Kristen Holmes asked Trump, 80, to respond to comments by a Democratic lawmaker about the president’s executive assistant Natalie Harp, 35.

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“Someday, your children will come across your disgusting and inhumane question,” the White House’s “Rapid Response” team said in an X post directed at Holmes and linking to a video of Trump’s response.

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The Republican leader later berated Holmes as “very disrespectful” as she asked a question on North Korea.

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The event was to honor a teenage lifeguard who saved a child from swells, but the president opened the floor to questions on unrelated issues, as he regularly does.

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“You’re a loud, boisterous person, you’re fake news, be quiet,” Trump said to Holmes.

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CNN said the attacks on Holmes were “beneath the office.”

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“We stand firmly behind Kristen and reject these attacks in the strongest possible terms,” it said in a statement.

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Natalie Harp has been the subject of recent internet commentary after it emerged she was one of the few aides with Trump during a secret Air Force One swap in July.

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Jon Ossoff, a Democratic senator and possible 2028 presidential contender, accused Trump in a campaign speech on Sunday of wanting to “build his ballroom and travel with Natalie” instead of doing his job.

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Trump dismissed Ossoff as a “Pee-wee Herman lookalike” and defended his construction of a $400 million ballroom at the White House, but did not mention his aide.

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The White House criticized Holmes for asking about Harp during an event with the lifeguard.

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“@POTUS hosts a hero lifeguard in the Oval Office and she uses it as an opportunity to take a cheap shot about one of President Trump’s staffers,” the Rapid Response account said.

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“These scumbags are the lowest of the low.”

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Harp, a former television news personality, is frequently seen at Trump’s side and has been dubbed the “human printer” for supplying the president with print-outs of information.

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In the book “Regime Change” published this year, two New York Times reporters wrote that Harp’s loyalty extended to writing him “adoring letters” including one that read: “You are all that matters to me.”

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White House Communications Director Steven Cheung had earlier slammed Ossoff for the Harp comments, calling him “the biggest cuck loser in politics” — using internet slang for a submissive man.

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AFP

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