Overview
- During a Fox News interview in Beijing, President Trump swerved from a question on trade with China to insult CBS reporter Norah O’Donnell as a “stupid person” and “very average.”
- He linked his outburst to O’Donnell’s April 60 Minutes interview, where she read from the alleged manifesto of Cole Tomas Allen, the suspect in the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting.
- In that 60 Minutes exchange, Trump denied the attacks in the note and called O’Donnell a “disgrace,” saying, “I am not a rapist” and “I am not a pedophile.”
- The Hannity remarks extend weeks of criticism, which included Trump calling O’Donnell “terrible” on The Hugh Hewitt Show.
- Clips of the new tirade spread on social media, drawing ridicule from viewers and fresh debate over his focus on grievances rather than policy during a high-profile China trip.