White House X Account Targets CNN's Kristen Holmes After Trump Berates Her in Oval Office
Updated
Updated · Slate · Aug 18
White House X Account Targets CNN's Kristen Holmes After Trump Berates Her in Oval Office
3 articles · Updated · Slate · Aug 18
Summary
Two posts from the White House rapid-response X account escalated Trump's Oval Office clash with CNN's Kristen Holmes, calling her a "disgraceful" reporter and invoking her children after he told her to "be quiet."
Holmes had pressed Trump on Sen. Jon Ossoff's criticism of his presidential priorities and on scaling back U.S.-South Korea military drills, prompting Trump to label CNN "fake news" and call her "loud" and "boisterous."
CNN defended Holmes as asking a relevant, newsworthy question, while media figures including Chuck Todd and former Trump press secretary Stephanie Grisham condemned the personal attacks as cowardly and beneath the presidency.
The episode extends Trump's pattern of singling out female journalists and, with the White House account joining in, suggests that hostility toward reporters has spread beyond the president himself.
The report says the White House Correspondents' Association offered no clear guidance on how reporters should respond in the room, underscoring how routine such confrontations have become.