The author condemns the president’s repeated public insults of female journalists — citing a recent White House confrontation with ABC’s Rachel Scott and other attacks on reporters. She connects these personal attacks to a historical pattern of excluding and marginalizing women in newsrooms and warns that hostile rhetoric can translate into restricted access or threats to safety. A 2024 Reuters Institute study is cited showing women remain underrepresented in newsroom leadership, and the author calls for solidarity to defend press freedom and encourage future journalists.
Trump’s Attacks on Female Journalists Are Insults, Not ‘Frankness’ — And They Matter
Trump’s bullying of female journalists isn’t ‘frankness.’ It’s insulting.
It is deeply troubling that journalists still must insist on basic respect at work — and even more alarming that the chief offender is the president of the United States.
The most recent example occurred at the White House, when the president singled out ABC’s Rachel Scott after she asked about video of Sept. 2 strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean. “You are the most obnoxious reporter in the whole place,” he said, adding, “You are an obnoxious, a terrible — actually a terrible reporter, and it’s always the same thing with you.”
These public humiliations are unacceptable.
In recent weeks he also called CNN’s Kaitlan Collins “always Stupid and Nasty” in a social media post, barked “Quiet. Quiet, piggy” at Bloomberg’s Catherine Lucey, asked CBS’s Nancy Cordes “Are you stupid? Are you a stupid person?” and labeled New York Times reporter Katie Rogers “a third rate reporter who is ugly, both inside and out.”
Why This Matters
Remaining silent about this behavior does a disservice to the women who paved the way in journalism, to those who work alongside us today and to the next generation of reporters. When a president targets a reporter’s intelligence or appearance — and notably singles out female reporters while ignoring male co-authors — it echoes a long history of excluding women from hard-news beats, paying them less, and tolerating harassment.
These are not merely personal slights. In this administration, reporters have been turned away from White House and Pentagon briefings. Hostile rhetoric from the top risks normalizing restrictions on access, increasing harassment on the street and chilling journalists from asking the tough questions that hold power to account.
On MS NOW’s social team, I regularly approach people for on-the-record reactions. After seeing the president’s public aggression, I worry it emboldens others to intimidate or attack reporters — even those simply doing their jobs.
Press Freedom and the Future of Journalism
Asking tough questions is at the heart of journalism; answering them is a responsibility of public office. No one should be berated for doing their job competently. A 2024 Reuters Institute study found that women remain underrepresented in newsroom leadership — a gap that rhetoric like this can widen by discouraging aspiring reporters and pressuring current ones to self-censor.
Bullying belonged on the playground, not in the Oval Office.
I speak up out of gratitude to the generations who opened doors for me: the professors who insisted on ethical, courageous reporting and the colleagues who mentored me. Solidarity matters — for press freedom, for workplace dignity and for the future of journalism.
Originally published on MS NOW.
