THIS is the moment a furious Donald Trump blasts a “stupid” reporter for her bizarre question in the aftermath of the deadly shooting of two National Guard troops by an Afghan migrant in DC.
The tense exchange unfolded at the start of Thursday’s press conference, when reporters asked whether the federal screening of Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, had failed.
In an impassioned Thanksgiving address, Trump spoke about a wide range of contentious issues from immigration to the shooting in Washington on Wednesday.
However, it was during this speech that the President lost his temper after being goaded by a member of the press.
Nancy Cordes, 51, noted that federal officials had previously said the suspect “worked closely with the CIA in Afghanistan for years, that he was vetted and the vetting came up clean.”
Trump then provided an emphatic response to the reporter’s suggestion of some sort of state failing.
“He went cuckoo. I mean, he went nuts,” he said.
“It happens too often with these people. You see them.
“But look, this is how they come in, they’re standing on top of each other.
“That’s an airplane. There was no vetting or anything.
“They came in unvetted and we have a lot of others in this country and we’re going to get them out.”
Cordes pressed again, citing the Justice Department inspector general.
“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 US, so why do you blame the Biden administration for what this man did?”
This time, Trump erupted.
“Because they let them in. Are you stupid? Are you a stupid person?” he snapped.
“Because they came in 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.”
He then tore into the Biden administration’s handling of the Afghan withdrawal and the laws governing migrant removal.
“And there’s a law passed that it’s almost impossible to get them out.
“You can’t get them out once they come in, and they came in and they were unvetted, they were unchecked, there were many of them, and they came in on big planes and it was disgraceful,” Trump said.
“The whole Afghanistan situation was a mess. It should’ve never taken place.
“We would’ve left from Bagram, and we would’ve kept Bagram by the way.”
Despite the barrage of insults, Cordes remained unfazed – a familiar scene given Trump’s recent confrontations with reporters.
Earlier this month, he told Bloomberg journalist Catherine Lucey to be “quiet, piggy” after she questioned him about the release of the Epstein files.
Days later, during another tense interaction near Air Force One, he snapped again when she interjected: “Will you let me finish my statement? You are the worst!
“You’re with Bloomberg, right? You are the worst! I don’t know why they even have you.”
The escalating press tensions came hours after Trump announced that National Guard member Sarah Beckstrom, 20, had died from injuries sustained in Wednesday’s shooting.
He described her as an “incredible person” and “outstanding in every way”.
Her colleague, Andrew Wolfe, 24, remains in critical condition.
The suspected gunman, Lakanwal, allegedly drove across the country to the nation’s capital before opening fire with a .357 revolver.
The shooting happened in the northwest quadrant of the city, roughly two blocks northwest of the White House.
The two guardsmen were part of the contingent of troops deployed to Washington over the summer.
They were performing “high visibility patrols” when the suspected shooter opened fire.
Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/15563005/trump-blasts-reporter-afghan-migrant-guardswoman/
