Donald Trump’s disdain for female reporters, particularly minority female reporters, came to a head today when CBS Reporter Weijia Jiang, who has faced Trump down on several occasions, confronted his racism directly, causing Trump to become outraged and cut off follow-up questions from CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, abruptly ending a press conference as he stalked-off to sulk.
CNN’s Brian Stelter, appearing on The Situation Room sums up succinctly when he connects the dots of Trump’s racist and condescending suggestion that Jiang “Ask China” for answers to the questions she put to him about his using COVID-19 testing as a competition while Americans continue dying:
Fellow reporters and AAPIs were quick to have her back on Twitter with the hashtag #StandWithWeijiaJiang
Against the background of Trump’s frequent xenophobic dog whistles that are escalating attacks against AAPIs (particularly Chinese and East Asians), Jiang was brave to stand up and challenge Trump to his face, causing him to denny it and then stomp off mad.
So again it raises the question that if reporters and other public figures can confront Trump’s racism and xenophobia, why are so many Democrat politicians silent on the issue and afraid to take it on?
In particular, our presumptive Presidential Candidate Joe Biden has been more willing to validate the premise of Trump’s current campaign to blame China (and by extension Chinese/Asians) for the mess he has made of the COVID-19 response by engaging in a pissing contest about who is more in bed with China and who is the tough guy to put them in their place, than simply calling-out Trump for his racism.
Given Trump’s well established pattern of rudeness and antagonism toward female journalists, particularly minority women such as Jian and black reporters Yamiche Alcindor, April Ryan and Abby D. Phillip, it would seem to be a no brainer for politicians seeking the votes of women and minorities to at least signal their support of these women on social media.
Or do they think this is acceptable? Do you?
Wednesday, May 13, 2020 · 5:36:19 AM +00:00 · koNko
The WaPo weighs in:
Trump’s ‘ask China’ response to CBS’s Weijia Jiang shocked the room — and was part of a pattern
President Trump has a long history of using the bully pulpit to take jabs at reporters. Yet the pandemic-era briefings have become especially fraught — and an unusually barbed exchange with one journalist on Monday raised questions about whether he reserves special contempt for some.
[They then recount the facts.]
In a moment when Asian Americans have reported being subjected to verbal and physical abuse amid coronavirus fears, and when the president himself has leaned into his anti-China rhetoric, Trump’s slap at Jiang drew widespread attention.
Roy Gutterman, director of Syracuse University’s Tully Center for Free Speech, called Monday’s outburst “another attack on the press, likely calculated to demean the press, divert attention and change the day’s narrative,” but added: “There was probably some dog-whistling in his tirade, too.”
Jiang declined to comment about the incident. But on Tuesday morning, CBS News President Susan Zirinsky opened up the network’s daily editorial meeting with a pledge of support for her correspondent.
[ They then recount previous interactions where Trump chastised Jiang and spoke down to her, and complained her questions were “nasty”. ]
In March, Jiang tweeted that a White House official had called the virus “Kung-Flu” to her face. “Makes me wonder what they’re calling it behind my back,” she wrote. In response, Erick Erickson, a conservative radio host wrote, “I don’t care that you are offended by ‘Kung Flu,’ ‘Wuhan virus,’ or ‘Chinese virus,’ ” and told her that he was sorry that she was “sensitive and eager to embrace Chinese communist propaganda.
[ … ]
And as a coda, a Tweet thread worth reading:
Thursday, May 14, 2020 · 1:58:26 AM +00:00 · koNko
BINGO — Trump Takes it to Twitter and Biden Responds
He does not quite rebuke Trump for attacking AAPIs and defend us by name, but at least it caught his attention and got him to comment, and that is a step in the right direction. I have no objection to Biden taking the high road and side-stepping a bit here, if AAPIs keep prodding him maybe he will get up his guts and cross the Rubicon at some point.
Credit where it is due: Attaboy, Joe.
BTW, Trump’s Tweet got great pushback from AAPI activists on Twitter, including by me, extra points if you tag my account.
Thursday, May 14, 2020 · 6:29:44 AM +00:00 · koNko
Yet another update — this to add some interesting detail on exactly what happened to make Trump go ballistic. Writing at R29, Elle Belle, reconstructs the precise sequence of events when Trump tried to pivot away from Jiang, and some quick-witted teamwork between several lady reporters bounced the mic back to Jiang and ultimately to Trump nemisis, Yamiche Alcindor. Bell writes:
After pressing on Trump further to account for the 80,000 in America who have died, she called out the president's suggestion to "ask China," saying, "Sir, why are you saying that to me, specifically?" Although Trump denied that the response was targeted at Jiang, who is Chinese-American, he then referred to it as a "nasty question" and attempted to move on from the discourse. Motioning to CNN White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins, who tried to turn her question back over to Jiang, Trump then attempted to call on someone else — PBS NewsHour White House Correspondent Yamiche Alcindor — who also motioned back to Collins and Jiang. And that’s when Trump — infamous for being unable to handle criticism — walked off the stage, abruptly ending the conference and refusing questions from three women journalists.
Backing this up is a Twitter exchange between Jiang and Alcindor:
Nice work ladies! Damn they are good.
So, as CNN’s Brian Stelter elaborated, Trump is holding a sexist, racist grudge against these reporters and they really get under his skin.
Is he going to ban all of them from his press conferences?
Dare you.
Friday, May 15, 2020 · 1:47:02 AM +00:00 · koNko
Still more: NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio steps upon to the plate. With the second largest Asian-American community in the USA and multiple Chinatowns struggling for survival, he devoted part of his COVID-19 address today to the plight of small businesses with particular focus on the severe hardship Asian communities and AAPI people are suffering due to fear, loathing, prejudice and violence, and how the city cannot accept this and will combat it. Video cued to the beginning of the the section
de Blasio Address 2020.05.14