‘They write such phony junk’: Trump hurls weak insults at New York Times journalist

Donald Trump singled out and attacked a New York Times journalist over her critical coverage of Trump and his allies. During his meltdown, he also demanded an apology from The New York Times.

Trump insulted writer Maggie Haberman’s intelligence and deliberately misspelled her name on Truth Social. He wrote, “They write such phony “junk,” knowing full well how incorrect it is, only meaning to demean. Magot Hagerman, a third-rate writer and fourth-rate intellect, writes story after story, always terrible, and yet I almost never speak to her.” In the same post, Trump accused The New York Times of doing no fact-checking and expects them to apologize.

Trump added, “They do no fact checking, because facts don’t matter to them. I don’t believe I’ve had a legitimately good story in the NYT for years, AND YET I WON, IN RECORD FASHION, THE MOST CONSEQUENTIAL PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN DECADES. WHERE IS THE APOLOGY?”

He lives for the applause

Reporters now have to apologize for reporting that the incoming president doesn’t like, it seems. This shouldn’t come as a surprise from Trump, who has frequently made disparaging comments against the press. His first term as president normalized distrust against the media. The effects of Trump’s resentment against the press are still felt to this day, with many Republicans viewing journalists as “the enemy of the American people.” During his presidential campaign, he implied violence against reporters that were present in one of his rallies.

The New York Times is known for posting analytical news pieces that weren’t written to favor Trump. Haberman has been vocal about her criticism of Trump for years as a political analyst. She also wrote a piece that alleges a top Trump advisor asked for retainer fees from potential appointees in exchange for promotions in the coming administration. Although his comments against Haberman are deplorable, they’re also predictable. She may have earned ire from him for more than just her work at The New York Times. Her Pulitzer Prize-winning Donald Trump biography portrayed him as an egocentric man who is full of insecurity. That’s quite the farcry from the strongman branding he’s been touting.