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It was only last week that US president Donald Trump received widespread criticism for lashing out at a journalist – The Independent’s Andrew Feinberg – and claiming there was “something wrong” with him, and now, the 80-year-old has branded a Reuters reporter a “sick guy” after he asked about the cancellation of a rally in Kansas.
Trump dropped plans to attend rallies in Kansas and Iowa this weekend ahead of next week’s midterms, opting instead for virtual appearances, with officials claiming they were cancelled due to Republicans being “in a strong position” in both states.
The day before, he had been interrupted by three hecklers within minutes of each other at a rally in Ohio.
Following the decision not to go to Kansas, Reuters correspondent Jacob Bogage asked the president at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland on Thursday if it was because he was “sick of travel”.
Trump snapped: “You are sick … You are a sick guy. Reuters is terrible, by the way.
“Look at this guy, he’s way out of shape … I’m not going to Kansas because he’s [Roger Marshall] doing very well, I’m going to do a tele-rally.
“[Bogage] says, ‘what’s the reason for this, sir, that you’re not going to Kansas?’ You know what the reason is? I don’t feel I have to go to Kansas.
“He said, ‘you’re not going to Kansas, sir, are you feeling well?’ You’ve been following me for two weeks, I feel perfect.
“You are disgusting. Put yourself in shape, you look like hell.”
And once again, X/Twitter users slammed the convicted felon’s attack on a journalist who was just doing their job, with Kyle Glen of the Centre for Information Resilience writing: “There is no job in the world that would allow you to speak to someone like this for asking a reasonable question”:
US veteran John Jackson branded it a “total meltdown, beyond anything any other President has done, in response to a totally normal question”:
Ed Krassenstein suggested: “Seems Trump knows they will be demolished in the midterms and now he’s flipping out”:
The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols responded: “It could be a health issue; it could also be that he doesn't want to be the closer for losses. It could also be that he's just breaking under the strain of a midterm trend that he is taking on as a narcissistic injury”:
Ex-BBC and GB News presenter Simon McCoy said it was “bullying” and “disgusting”:
And progressive commentator Alex Cole tweeted: “Trump telling someone they look like hell while standing there looking like a microwaved pumpkin is absolutely hilarious.”:
Bogage has not directly responded to Trump’s remarks.
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