Less than a day after a gunman stormed the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, President Donald Trump resumed his attacks on the press.
Trump called CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell “a disgrace” during their “60 Minutes” interview on Sunday recounting his experience during Saturday’s shooting after she read aloud part of the alleged shooter’s manifesto, where he wrote he was “no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes.”
“What’s your reaction to that?” O’Donnell asked.
“I was waiting for you to read that because I knew you would because you’re horrible people,” Trump said. “Horrible people. Yeah, he did write that. I’m not a rapist. I didn’t rape anybody. I’m not a pedophile…You read that crap from some sick person? I got associated with all– stuff that has nothing to do with me. I was totally exonerated.”
Trump claimed it was solely Democrats who mingled with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, government files on whom repeatedly referenced Trump, before he tore further into O’Donnell, claiming she should be “ashamed” of herself for reading his words.
“You shouldn’t be reading that on ‘60 Minutes,’” Trump continued. “You’re a disgrace.”
The rest of the interview remained mostly cordial, with Trump walking O’Donnell through his experience atop the dinner dais for the first time as president before gunshots rang out. He praised CBS News senior White House correspondent Weijia Jiang, the president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, as “a terrific person” who was “doing a great job,” though he said his relationship overall with the press remained fractured over policy positions. (The press traditionally does not take positions on policies.)
“I don’t think I could ever change my feelings on certain policies. I want strong borders. They want open borders. There’s such a difference,” Trump said. “I will say this, though. After the– event, meaning it looked like things were good, we knew he was caught, I was given the information immediately, there was a camaraderie that you just have not seen in a while. It’s very nice to see.”
