President Donald Trump called for ABC News to lose its broadcasting license after chief White House correspondent Mary Bruce pressed him on Jeffrey Epstein and other matters in a press conference Tuesday.
Slamming Bruce as a “terrible person” after she asked why he’s relying on a House vote to release the Epstein files instead of fast-tracking the release himself, he added: “I think the license should be taken away from ABC.”
“People are wise to your hoax, and ABC, your company, your crappy company is one of the perpetrators,” Trump said, again calling the Epstein files release the “Epstein hoax.” “And I’ll tell you something: I think the license should be taken away from ABC. Because your news is so fake and so wrong. And we have a great commissioner, a chairman who should look at that.
“Because I think when you come in and you’re 97% negative to Trump and then Trump wins the election in a landslide, that means obviously that your news is not credible,” the president added. “And you’re not credible as a reporter.”
Representatives for ABC declined to comment.
Watch the exchange below:
Trump’s response came after Bruce had already asked him during the Tuesday press conference with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman about slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi — a line of questioning that led to the president defending the crown prince and dismissing Khashoggi’s death as “things happen.”
“ABC fake news,” he said mid-question. “One of the worst in the business.”
He doubled down on his attack against ABC News and Bruce after she asked about the Epstein files.
“Mr. President, why wait for congress to release the Epstein files? Why not just do it now?” Bruce asked.
“It’s not the question that I mind. It’s your attitude,” Trump responded before nodding to her previous question about Khashoggi. “I think you are a terrible reporter. It’s the way you ask these questions, you start off with a man who’s highly respected asking him a horrible, insubordinate and just a terrible question, and you could even ask that same exact question nicely … You’re a terrible person and a terrible reporter.”
