Trump has made himself perfectly clear

Sometimes, watching the news, I have to shake my head and remind myself that this is real life and not some dystopian series I’ve happened upon on Netflix.

If it were just a show, by now I’d be throwing popcorn at the TV and griping to my husband that the writers have gone too far in expecting us to suspend our disbelief.

But no, this is all happening. One moment U.S. President Donald Trump is telling Bloomberg White House correspondent Catherine Lucey “Quiet, piggy,” in response to questions about the Epstein files. The next, queries from ABC News reporter Mary Bruce about the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi (put to the president as he sat beside Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the man who — according to U.S. intelligence — ordered that killing) are curtly dismissed. “Things happen,” Trump said.

Of course, he didn’t just dismiss Bruce’s queries, but the journalist herself, calling her questions “horrible” and “insubordinate,” suggesting there should be consequences: “I think the licence should be taken away from ABC, because your news is so fake and it’s so wrong.”

Trump’s contempt for the media — excepting the sycophants who coddle him — is nothing new. He has been consistently quick to dismiss, denigrate and defund (where he could, as with NPR and PBS) the fourth estate, and to slam reporters as being purveyors of “fake news” and “nasty people” in general.

But these latest outbursts have been particularly hateful. It’s not a coincidence that the targets have been journalists who are women.

And that’s not just my opinion. There is a method to Trump’s madness that is being recognized and called out.

As the CBC reported Nov. 20, the U.S. Society of Professional Journalists issued a statement last week saying, “These incidents are not isolated; they are part of an unmistakable pattern of hostility — often directed at women — that undermines the essential role of a free and independent press.”

And as Los Angeles Times columnist Anita Chabria wrote on Nov. 21: “Trump’s aggressive sexism, now seemingly uncontrollable by the man himself, isn’t just a personal foible. It’s a political weapon, and one tied to violence — a war on women that is ultimately part of the war on democracy.”

I wasn’t too many pages into Lord of the Flies as a 12-year-old when I figured out that “piggy” was not an affectionate nickname. William Golding’s young character is seen as a prime target for ostracization because of his weight, poor eyesight and asthma — despite his keen intelligence. And though I have no idea if Trump has ever read Golding (and yes, I’m being kind here), “piggy” is the kind of childish meanness you’d be horrified to hear in a schoolyard, let alone from the so-called leader of the free world in his dealings with members of the media.

As a woman who has worked in journalism for more than 35 years, I’ve heard my share of sexist comments; from callers who’d cut me off in mid phone conversation to insist on speaking to a “newsman,” to a creepy guy who would phone me up to condescendingly purr “good girl!” every time our newspaper published one of his letters to the editor (my skin still crawls at the thought of that one).

Whenever I had to deal with such behaviour, I’d inwardly cringe or seethe or both, but still try to respond professionally, always cognizant of the fact I represented a trusted news source that strived to treat people fairly and objectively.

Most journalists I know — unlike the current American president — feel bound by a code of ethics and professionalism. It’s why reporters Lucey and Bruce couldn’t yell back, “Yeah? Well, you’re an idiot, Mr. President!”

Remarkably, Trump still doesn’t seem to realize that being held to account is part of the gig. He is expected to provide answers to serious questions. He’s no longer running a beauty pageant where he gets to mock cellulite or accuse someone of being too fat.

And yet on Nov. 20, in remarks that so diabolically twisted the truth they could have been crafted for the porcine propagandist Squealer in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, U.S. press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended — no, actually lauded — Trump’s “piggy” comment as the hallmark of someone who tells it like it is. Trump, she said, is “frank and open and honest,” “calls out fake news when he sees it,” “gets frustrated with reporters when you lie about him” and is also “the most transparent president in history.”

I’ll give her that last bit. Trump is indeed a transparent president.

We can see right through him.

Pam Frampton lives in St. John’s. Email pamelajframpton@gmail.com | X: @Pam_Frampton | Bluesky: @pamframpton.bsky.social