President Donald Trump had another heated run-in with the press this week, snapping at an ABC News correspondent and branding her “the worst” as she pressed him on his proposal to send $5,000 checks to American adults.
The dust-up unfolded Thursday night as Trump spoke with reporters while leaving Dallas, where he had just wrapped up the GOP’s midterm convention. It was there that the president floated his plan to distribute the $5,000 payments to Americans if Republicans hold onto power in the upcoming midterms. Trump has claimed he can pull off the payout without needing a green light from Congress, though the idea marks just the latest in a string of direct-payment promises from the president.
ABC News senior political correspondent Rachel Scott pushed Trump on the math behind the plan. “Mr. President, on the checks, the U.S. is still $40 trillion in debt. If your economic policies are working, why do you need an incentive for people to turn out to vote?” she asked.
Trump pushed back on the framing, insisting the checks weren’t a turnout gimmick but a payback for what Americans endured under his predecessor. “I didn’t do it for turning out to vote. I did it as a reward for people having to put up with five years and four years of horrible, horrible situation caused by Biden,” he said.
As Scott continued pressing him on the so-called “refund checks,” Trump grew visibly irritated and leaned in toward her. “Not you!” he snapped, before adding, “Your network and you, you’re the worst.”
This isn’t the first time this week Trump has locked horns with an ABC reporter. Just days earlier, while flying to Dallas, he tangled with correspondent Mary Bruce after she asked why some Republicans were skipping the midterm convention. Trump branded her the “worst” as well, declaring, “ABC fake news. One of the worst — you are the worst of all, in my opinion.”
The network has long been a lightning rod for the president. ABC previously settled a defamation lawsuit with Trump for $16 million after anchor George Stephanopoulos said on air that Trump had been found “liable” for rape — a claim that prompted a formal apology from Stephanopoulos. Trump has also gone after ABC over late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, who frequently takes aim at the president in his monologues.
Whether the $5,000 check plan ever materializes remains to be seen, but it’s clear the president isn’t backing down from confrontations with reporters who question how he’d pay for it — or why it’s being unveiled right before Americans head to the polls this November.
[READ MORE: Trump Blasts ABC Reporter as “The Worst” Amid Grilling Over $5K Check Plan]
