Karoline Leavitt gave a less than suitable response as to what prompted President Trump to flippantly insult a female reporter by calling her a “piggy,” after he was asked a question about Jeffrey Epstein. On Air Force One, Trump pointed his finger in a young female reporter’s, Catherine Lucey’s, face and snapped, “Quiet, piggy,” after being asked about the trove of emails released by the House Oversight Committee that revealed Epstein, a child sex trafficker and convicted pedophile, accusing Trump of “knowing about the girls” involved in his criminal operations. For the record, Trump denies knowing any such information.

While not directly explaining what the president meant, Leavitt defended Trump and said he was elected because of his “frankness.” Look, the president is very frank and honest with everyone in this room. You’ve all seen it yourself. You’ve all experienced it yourselves,” Leavitt said. “And I think it’s one of the many reasons the American people reelected this president because of his frankness.” Okay!

Lucey’s inquiry to Donald Trump aboard Air Force One was certainly sensible as she was inquiring about the release of the Epstein files, a topic of considerable public interest. Why had the president been stonewalling, she asked, “if there’s nothing incriminating in the files”.

Rather than provide a reasonable answer, his response was derelict, juvenile and sexist. He pointed straight at Lucey and told her to stop doing her job. “Quiet. Quiet, piggy,” said the president of the United States. Yes, you read that correctly. What was even more surprising, quite frankly, more incredulous (at least to me) at least from what I saw was what that none of her fellow colleagues responded to defend her from such a brazen attack. Very disturbing situation to witness.

It should not go without noting that Trump similarly berated ABC News and well regarded reporter Mary Bruce, who also asked germane questions, about Khashoggi as well as the Epstein files. “I think you are a terrible reporter. It’s the way you ask these questions,” he said. He called ABC a “crappy company” and said its license “should be taken away from ABC because your news is so fake and it’s so wrong.” This appears to be par for the course.

To the president’s most brazen supporters, such verbally reductive banter is lauded and applauded. To this crowd, such antics are just one of many ways Trump utilizes his power and position to “sock it to and own the supposedly liberal elite” whom he has implored MAGA to detest with intense, unbridled passion. To be sure, Trump’s attacks on the media are hardly new. He adamantly referred to the press as the “enemy of the American people” shortly after first taking office in 2017, an era marked by his routine attacks that journalists and their work were “fake news.”

But for these two most recent insults to happen back-to-back is “chilling,” especially with the timing of Trump’s meeting with bin Salman, the IWMF’s Muñoz said.

Trump has an even longer history of denigrating women more broadly. This is reportedly not the first time that he has used the word piggy to describe a woman. Alicia Machado, the winner of the 1996 Miss Universe pageant, has alleged that Trump once called her “Miss Piggy” and made other demeaning comments about her weight. And the president’s longtime feud with Rosie O’Donnell has included much public sexism, including Trump calling her a “big, fat pig” in 2006. His derogatory comments about female journalists also date back, including in 2015, when he said Fox News host Megyn Kelly had “blood coming out of her wherever.”

He has a particular animosity toward and has often clashed with Black female reporters, targeting first-rate journalist, Yamiche Alcindor who then covered the White House for the PBS NewsHour, condemning her supposedly “nasty” questions. Most recently, he called Alcindor, who currently works for NBC, “second rate” and demanded that she, too, “be quiet.” He chastised CNN journalist Abby Philip for her supposedly “stupid” questions. He publicly called, April Ryan, a longtime, veteran White House reporter, “a loser.” Crass and blunt as his prior comments have been, even “quiet, piggy” somehow takes such rancor to an entirely new level of rudeness. Something that, even for this president, was over the line. Rancid commentary that should have been confronted and challenged. A bridge too far, so to speak.

One can only envision what the reaction would have been if the majority, or even a few members of the press corps members railed back at Trump, challenged and derided him for spewing such retrograde language? Defending one of their colleagues? No doubt that such a spectacle would have likely reassured Catherine Lucey. Additionally, it would have undoubtedly bolstered confidence among one another. It was a much needed and missed opportunity. Perhaps, they feared the president’s personal wrath directed toward them, the lack of access to future White House press briefings etc...? Regardless, such a lack of unity and vocal cowardice is alarming and does not bode well for the future of a much desired and needed vibrant, robust press corps, including well after Trump leaves office.