President Donald Trump on Thursday attacked a journalist for asking a basic question during a Thanksgiving media availability after he spoke to U.S. service members, part of a recent trend of insults he’s hurled at the women who cover him.
“Are you stupid? Are you a stupid person?” he asked the reporter during a tense exchange about the suspect in Wednesday’s attack on two National Guard members in Washington, D.C.
“There was no vetting or anything, they came in unvetted,” he said.
“Actually, your DOJ IG just reported this year that there was thorough vetting by DHS and by the FBI of these Afghans who were brought into the U.S.,” she persisted. “So why do you blame the Biden administration?”
Trump did not like the question at all.
“Because they let ’em in,” he fired back. “Are you stupid? Are you a stupid person? Because they came into on a plane along with thousands of other people that shouldn’t be here, and you’re just asking questions because you’re a stupid person.”
Trump during the event announced that one of the victims, 20-year-old Sarah Beckstrom, had died and railed against the immigration policies of President Joe Biden as the suspect, who had worked with the CIA in Afghanistan, was allowed into the United States as part of a resettlement program in 2021.
However, he was granted asylum this year by the Trump administration.
“He was vetted and the vetting came up clean,” the reporter pointed out.
“He went cuckoo,” Trump replied. “I mean, he went nuts, and that happens too. It happens too often with these people.”
But Trump insisted that Afghan migrants were allowed in with no screening, and held up a photo of a crowded plane of asylum-seekers:
“There was no vetting or anything, they came in unvetted,” he said.
“Actually, your DOJ IG just reported this year that there was thorough vetting by DHS and by the FBI of these Afghans who were brought into the U.S.,” she persisted. “So why do you blame the Biden administration?”
Trump did not like the question at all.
“Because they let ’em in,” he fired back. “Are you stupid? Are you a stupid person? Because they came into on a plane along with thousands of other people that shouldn’t be here, and you’re just asking questions because you’re a stupid person.”
CBS News’s “60 Minutes” segment highlighting men deported to El Salvador’s CECOT prison will air Sunday...
