Trump Shredded On Twitter For 'Meltdown' Before Bailing From Press Conference
President Donald Trump trended for all the wrong reasons Monday after an already tense press briefing came to an abrupt end.
The president hastily concluded and departed his coronavirus press conference following altercations with two female reporters, CBS’s Weijia Jiang and CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. Jiang, who is Asian American, had asked why Trump chooses to praise the U.S. response to the pandemic and treat it as though it were a “global competition” when so many Americans are still dying and falling ill.
“Well, they’re losing their lives everywhere in the world. And maybe that’s a question you should ask China,” Trump responded. “Don’t ask me. Ask China that question, OK?”
When Jiang asked, “Sir, why are you saying that to me specifically?” Trump declared her question “nasty” and cut her off. Collins, whom Trump had called on next, approached the microphone as Jiang tried to repeat her question, but then the president stopped her from asking her own question and called on someone else. When Collins pressed him to be allowed her turn, the president ended the briefing and left.
Trump has clashed with both women previously and has often disparaged female reporters asking unfavorable questions as being “nasty” to him.
Earlier in the briefing, when a reporter asked him to name the crime he was accusing former President Barack Obama of in a tweet on Sunday, Trump failed to name a crime but instead riffed that “the crime is very obvious to everybody.”
And before the briefing began, the misleading, laudatory banners hanging in the Rose Garden declaring that “America leads the world in testing” faced criticism.
The hashtag TrumpMeltdown skyrocketed up Twitter’s trending topics following the briefing’s contentious finale.
Racism, an incomprehensible conspiracy theory, and a tantrum in which he storms off, all in a minute and a half. This is our president. https://t.co/qAvYuMkDhf
— German Lopez (@germanrlopez) May 11, 2020
When a rat is backed into a corner it scurries away. #TrumpMeltdown https://t.co/syHoFbnlqF
— Jerry Avenaim (@avenaim) May 11, 2020
Trump’s backbone when strong female reporters stand up to him. #TrumpMeltdown #PressBriefing pic.twitter.com/dWvLWLF6bH
— Christopher O’Reilly (@Chrstphrrlly) May 11, 2020
Another day, another flailing, erratic, scapegoating dumpster-fire news conference from the incompetent Liar-in-Chief. #TrumpMeltdown
It's not China. It's not Obama. It's you who keeps screwing up, @realDonaldTrump. A real President would own it & try to do better. https://t.co/hVNvn8mzPU— Eric Swalwell (@ericswalwell) May 12, 2020
Dude, FoxNews cut it off before the end. Cspan kept the feed going. pic.twitter.com/8fl0Vuscu0
— KevinlyFather 🇺🇲🇨🇦🇲🇼🇸🇿 (@KevinlyFather) May 11, 2020
Millions of women watch this and think, “I divorced that.” https://t.co/8OFdAL5w3m
— Connie Schultz (@ConnieSchultz) May 11, 2020
This is like bragging about having the most lifeboats 3 months after the Titanic sank. https://t.co/UWbRziPdXq
— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) May 11, 2020
I updated the banners. We're #1 in testing, Covid-19 cases, AND deaths. Next time can we do more testing BEFORE all of the dying? @realDonaldTrump #TrumpMeltdown pic.twitter.com/VhogZL5Tts
— Sally Dowell (@saldowell) May 11, 2020
Yet again, @realDonaldTrump goes after a female, ethnic minority reporter.🤬#RacistInChief #CoronavirusLiar #TrumpMeltdown #TrumpTantrum https://t.co/7Uvgbswg99
— Dr. Dena Grayson (@DrDenaGrayson) May 11, 2020
The president is scared of Kaitlan Collins. https://t.co/0gM5tA4fdQ
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) May 11, 2020
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