Santa Cruz teen lifeguard Ryder Williams got a close-up view of the president’s prickly relationship with the press during a White House visit Monday.
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The 16-year-old had been invited by President Donald Trump, who was honoring him for his role in a beach rescue last month. After Trump’s comments about Williams, reporters were allowed to ask questions on other topics.
For one of those reporters, the event turned contentious. Kristen Holmes of CNN began to ask a question about Trump’s actions concerning military exercises in South Korea; the president cut her off.
Trump: “Quiet, quiet, quiet. You are very disrespectful in front of this young man.” [He turned to 10-year-old Nathaniel Rai, the child whom Williams had helped rescue.] “Don’t you find her disrespectful? He understands. Quiet. Who are you with?”
Holmes: “I’m with CNN.”
Trump: “Fake news. You’re fake news. You’re loud. You’re a loud, boisterous person, you’re fake news. Be quiet. Be quiet. Be quiet. You’re a fake reporter and you report fake news.”
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He then turned away from her and took a question from another reporter, getting in a reference to “a CNN fake report.” The video embedded below shows Trump berating Holmes.
The White House’s “Rapid Response” X account posted a clip of the president’s rebuke, tagging Holmes and saying: “Someday, your children will come across your disgusting and inhumane question. They will be sickened and embarrassed to have a parent be so callous and vindictive. It’s quite troubling.”
Holmes is not the first reporter whom Trump has publicly ordered to be quiet at a press conference. In June, he told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins to be quiet and also criticized her physical appearance. Last year, when Bloomberg’s Catherine Lucey asked a question about the Jeffrey Epstein files, Trump told her: “Quiet, piggy!”
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