Trump said the FCC commissioner “should look at” revoking ABC’s broadcast license because “your news is so fake and is so wrong”
President Donald Trump lashed out at an ABC News reporter on Tuesday, Nov. 18, suggesting that the network should have its FCC license revoked.
His heated remark came in response to a question about Jeffrey Epstein from ABC’s Mary Bruce, who was later identified in a tweet from media reporter Brian Stelter.
“People are wise to your hoax,” Trump, 79, angrily told Bruce. “ABC, your company, your crappy company is one of the perpetrators. And I’ll tell you something, I think the license should be taken away from ABC because your news is so fake and is so wrong. And we have a great commissioner, a chairman, who should look at that.”
“I think when you come in, and when you’re 97% negative to Trump, and then Trump wins the election in a landslide, that means obviously your news is not credible,” he added during the press conference. “And you’re not credible as a reporter, so I’ve answered your question. You should go and look at the Democrats who received money from Epstein.”
Trump then said, “You’re not after the radical left because you’re a radical left network. But I think the way you ask a question with the anger and the meanness is terrible. You ought to go back and learn how to be a reporter. No more questions from you.”
The president’s remarks — during an Oval Office press conference beside Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud — come just days after he called another reporter a “piggy” for asking him about the Epstein files, which are the subject of a prominent House bill that will go to a vote on Tuesday afternoon.
On Friday, Nov. 14, Trump was asked about the files aboard Air Force One as he flew from D.C. to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida for the weekend. Earlier that week, the House Oversight Committee had released multiple emails in which Epstein referred to Trump by name, including one in which Epstein claimed Trump “knew about the girls” and had “asked ghislaine [Maxwell] to stop.”
Trump told reporters on Air Force One, “I know nothing about that. They would have announced that a long time ago,” and added, “Jeffrey Epstein and I had a very bad relationship for many years.”
When an off-camera female journalist who was later identified as a Bloomberg reporter began to ask the president if there was anything “incriminating” in the Epstein emails, Trump pointed a finger in her face and said, “Quiet. Quiet, piggy.”
Trump has been attacking journalists asking him about the files as of late, and two days after the Air Force One incident, he snapped at another reporter for asking him about Tucker Carlson’s interview with far-right podcaster Nick Fuentes.
“Well, I found him to be good. I mean, he’s said good things about me over the years. He’s, I think he’s good,” Trump said in reference to Carlson, a former Fox News host. “We’ve had some good interviews. I did an interview with him where we had 300 million hits.”
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The reporter then began to ask another question as Trump was still speaking, prompting him to say, “Will you let me finish my statement? You are the worst.”
He then asked, “You’re with Bloomberg, right? You are the worst. I don’t know why they even have you.”
Trump’s FCC comment on Tuesday follows his recent call for NBC to fire late-night host Seth Meyers.
“NBC’s Seth Meyers is suffering from an incurable case of Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS),” the president wrote on Truth Social on Saturday, Nov. 15.
“He was viewed last night in an uncontrollable rage, likely due to the fact that his ‘show’ is a Ratings DISASTER,” Trump added. “Aside from everything else, Meyers has no talent, and NBC should fire him, IMMEDIATELY!”
