White House Triples Down After Trump Snaps At CNN Reporter

President Donald Trump lashed out CNN’s Kristen Holmes on Monday after she attempted to ask about North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and whether Trump canceled a joint US-South Korea military exercise at his request.

“Did [Kim Jong Un] ask you to scale back on those?” she asked.

Instead of answering the question, Trump pointed a finger at her: “Quiet! Quiet! Quiet! Quiet!”

“You’re very disrespectful in front of this young man,” Trump said, turning to a boy who was seated on the couch for an unrelated Oval Office meet-and-greet. “Don’t you find her disrespectful?” he asked the boy, laughing to himself.

Trump then asked what outlet Holmes was with and fell back on his old standby of yelling “fake news” after learning the answer was CNN.

“I just want to follow up on the South Korea question,” she persisted.

“FAKE NEWS,” he yelled back. “YOU’RE FAKE NEWS. You’re loud. You’re a loud, boisterous person; you’re fake news.”

Undeterred, Holmes asked again: “I’m trying to find out if you have been talking to Kim Jong Un and if he asked you…”

Trump again cut her off: “Be quiet. Be quiet. Be quiet. You’re a fake reporter. And you report fake news.”

Following the president’s Oval Office outburst, a social media account associated with the White House doubled down on attacking Holmes hours later. It called her a “disgraceful, humiliating embarrassment to her alleged profession.”

Avoiding the question of North Korea entirely, the account seemingly blamed Holmes for an earlier “cheap shot” question about Trump’s close relationship with aide Natalie Harp, which Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) had publicly questioned over the weekend.

(In the meantime, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung responded to Ossoff’s criticism by calling him a “cuck loser.”)

Holmes was attacked a third time in a follow-up White House post:

“Someday, your children will come across your disgusting and inhumane question,” read the post. “They will be sickened and embarrassed to have a parent be so callous and vindictive. It’s quite troubling.”

CNN responded to the attacks by affirming its support for Holmes in a public statement:

Kristen Holmes is one of the most respected and accomplished journalists covering the White House. This afternoon, she did her job and asked the President of the United States a tough, relevant, and newsworthy question on behalf of the American people. Public officials are free to challenge reporting they disagree with, but personal attacks on journalists for asking questions are beneath the office and inconsistent with the principles of a free press. We stand firmly behind Kristen and reject these attacks in the strongest possible terms.