Joy Behar: Trump supporters should ask themselves ‘if they’re racist’ after president’s exchange with Asian reporter
President Trump takes issue with reporter’s ‘nasty’ question
Trump abruptly ends White House briefing on COVID-19 testing.
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«The View» co-host Joy Behar suggested that President Trump’s supporters should re-examine whether they’re racist after he had a tense confrontation with an Asian reporter on Monday.
«He’s a disgusting racist,» Behar said on Tuesday’s episode of «The View.» «We knew it when he attacked Mexicans. We knew it when he defended Charlottesville people, and we know it when he goes after China and he goes after a Chinese-American girl. He is a racist. He throws red meat to his base on a regular basis, and anybody who still supports this guy needs to look in the mirror and ask themselves if they are racist also.»
CBS News reporter Weijia Jiang had asked Trump about how he compared the U.S. coronavirus testing rate to that of other countries.
«You’ve said many times that the U.S. is doing far better than any other country when it comes to testing. … Why does that matter? Why is this a global competition to you if everyday Americans are still losing their lives and we’re still seeing more cases every day?» Jiang asked.
Trump responded by taking aim at China, a country that some suspect has not been releasing accurate data regarding its own coronavirus cases and deaths. «Well, they’re losing their lives everywhere in the world. And maybe that’s a question you should ask China,» Trump told Jiang. «Don’t ask me, ask China, okay? When you ask them, you may get a very unusual answer.»
TRUMP ABRUPTLY ENDS NEWS CONFERENCE AFTER FIERY EXCHANGES WITH CNN, CBS REPORTERS
After his answer, Jiang asked him if there was a reason he mentioned China in his response to her — an apparent suggestion that he was somehow remarking on her Asian ancestry.
«I’m telling you — I’m not saying that specifically to anybody, I’m saying it to anybody who would ask a nasty question like that,» Trump responded.
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Trump called on CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins, who said she had two questions to ask. «No, that’s okay,» Trump said, before asking for another question. When Collins protested, Trump told her that she didn’t initially respond when he called on her.
«I just wanted to let my colleague finish,» Collins said. Trump then ended the press conference, apparently frustrated with Collins’ repeated questioning.
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Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., who appeared on «The View» Tuesday, suggested that Trump had trouble confronting «strong women.»
«I think he got called out on his racism. He has really been targeting Asian-Americans in particular and he was speaking to an Asian female reporter, and I think he [thought he] could bully her and she wouldn’t take it, and stood up to him. And so any time strong women have stood up to Donald Trump, he actually, like most bullies, retreats, and in this case you could see that he turned tail and ran out of that meeting when two female reporters backed each other up,» she said.
Fox News’ Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
