The targets of President Donald Trump’s worst outbursts this week were black female reporters, and CNN’s Brooke Baldwin has joined the numerous journalists eviscerating him for it.
On the air Friday, the CNN anchor defended the women the president berated. They included White House correspondent April Ryan, whom Trump called “nasty” and “a loser”; Abby Phillip, who Trump said “asks a lot of stupid questions” after she asked him about the Russia investigation; and PBS News Hour’s Yamiche Alcindor, whom Trump called “racist” for asking him about nationalism.
Baldwin described the women as “consummate professionals. A-grade.”
“They can take these insults. They don’t need me sticking up for them,” Baldwin said. “But still, there is something so wrong with this. It is beyond disturbing. It is ugly, and I’m angry.”
“Trump loves to punch, but this is something else. This feels personal,” Baldwin continued. “Among the multiple reporters this president has insulted this week, three are African-American women.”
Baldwin added: “These are not only fair questions they’re asking of him; these are the most important questions about this White House. And it pushes his buttons. And this is where he goes?”
“These women have conducted themselves with the utmost respect,” she concluded. “The person who apparently has none? The president.”
Journalists rebuked Trump en masse on Friday after his verbal attacks on Ryan, Phillip and Alcindor went viral.
Sarah Glover, president of the National Association of Black Journalists, praised the women’s work, calling them among “finest reporters covering the White House.”
Glover said Trump’s behavior was “unacceptable.”
“Mr. President, professionalism please,” she tweeted.