Photo: Alamy
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt seemed to clear the air on Thursday about whether President Trump called a reporter “piggy” this week while flying on Air Force One.
“The president is very frank and honest with everyone in this room, you’ve all experienced it yourselves, you’ve all seen it yourselves, and I think it’s one of the many reasons the American people reelected this president, because of his frankness,” Leavitt stated during a Thursday press briefing, when asked about the alleged comment.
On Tuesday, the president appeared to say, “Quiet, piggy,” during an exchange aboard the president’s aircraft, as an unidentified voice off camera appeared to loudly talk over him.
The moment was captured by the press and quickly went viral on social media, as online spectators debated whether the president was saying “Quiet piggy,” or “Quiet, Peggy.”
Some suggested that the president was referring to Peggy Noonan, a reporter for Bloomberg. However, this claim seemed to be propagated by Grok’s AI chatbot on X, giving the theory little credibility. The New York Post, in contrast, reported that the journalist in question was allegedly Catherine Lucey – also a reporter for Bloomberg.
During her comments on Thursday, Leavitt, notably, did not deny that the president used the term “piggy,” and instead highlighted the president’s authentic nature.
“He gets frustrated with reporters when you lie about him, when you spread fake news about him and his administration,” she said. “But he also is the most transparent president in history, and he gives all of you in this room, as you all know, unprecedented access. You are in the Oval Office almost every day, asking the president questions.”
She continued, “And so I think, the president being frank and open and honest to your faces rather than hiding behind your backs, is, frankly, a lot more respectful than what you saw in the last administration, where you had a president who lied to your face and then didn’t speak to you for weeks… so, I think everyone in this room should appreciate the frankness and the openness that you get from President Trump on a near-daily basis.”
