What To Know
- During an interview with Sean Hannity, President Trump continued to criticize CBS reporter Norah O’Donnell.
- The president called O’Donnell “stupid” and “very average.”
- Trump’s anger stems from a 60 Minutes interview where O’Donnell read from the alleged manifesto of White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooter Cole Allen.
President Donald Trump still had Norah O’Donnell on his mind on Thursday (May 14) as he sat down for an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News.
O’Donnell had previously drawn the ire of Trump during a 60 Minutes interview on April 26, a day after the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. During the interview, Trump became irritated after O’Donnell read from the alleged manifesto of Cole Allen, the suspect charged with attempting to assassinate the president.
While speaking with Hannity in Beijing amid his meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump dodged a question about whether any progress had been made on trade, tariffs, and intellectual property theft, instead turning the focus back to his 60 Minutes interview.
“Yeah, I mean, it is progress, but I also tell people that, you know, I was in an interview with a very bad, you know, stupid reporter,” Trump said, pere Mediaite, referring to O’Donnell. “She works for CBS. You saw that 60 minutes. Stupid person. Just an average person. You could take anybody off the street, and it’d be as good as she is. You know, very average.”
He continued, “And she asked me a question. She talked about China, this and that. They steal this and they steal that. I said, “We do it to them too, you know? They spy on us and we spy on them too I guess, you know?”
The president’s latest remarks follow his calling O’Donnell a “disgrace” during his 60 Minutes interview. This happened when the CBS News reporter read a quote from Allen’s alleged manifesto, which stated, “‘I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.’”
When O’Donnell asked for Trump’s reaction to that, he responded, “Well, I was waiting for you to read that, because I knew you would, because you’re horrible people. Horrible people… Yeah, he did write that. I am not a rapist. I didn’t rape anybody.”
“Oh, do you think he was referring to you?” O’Donnell retorted.
“Excuse me,” Trump said. “I am not a pedophile. You read that crap from some sick person.” He went on to say O’Donnell “should be ashamed” and called her a “disgrace.”
He again called her “terrible” during a phone call interview on The Hugh Hewitt Show last week. “She’s terrible. I mean, she’s interviewed me. She’s a regular person that gets paid a lot of money,” Trump stated. “I could get any woman off the street, practically, and they would do just as good a job as her. There’s nothing special.”
Hannity, Weeknights, 9/8c, Fox News
60 Minutes, Sundays, 7/6 c, CBS