'Bursts of ego': Legendary Pulitzer-winner slams Trump's 'pathetic' tantrums
Pulitzer-winning Watergate reporter Bob Woodward laid into President Donald Trump's ongoing and escalating war on the press in an interview on MSNBC Tuesday, blasting it as "pathetic."
Trump has filed an extensive stream of lawsuits against papers and outlets that have criticized him, or even not covered his opponents as unfavorably as he wanted, and bullied their parent companies into settling for millions of dollars.
It comes at a time when there is a growing tension between the leaders of these outlets, who want to smooth things over with Trump, and the staff and reporters who often feel their management isn't standing up for their work.
"When you look at this government, this second-term Trump administration's approach to the press, what do you see?" asked anchor Ari Melber. "And what do you think of recent departures at your publication, The Washington Post, by journalists?"
"Okay, well, let's start with Trump," said Woodward. "What I did — and this is not an archeological dig into something that was said months ago, but last month — on Truth Social, Trump said, people don't explain to me, I explain to them. And you see in his tweets and what he says publicly, this burst, these bursts of ego that he is in charge, he's controlling everything. And as I've watched this and listened to it, I did three books on Trump, it's pathetic that you have the president of the United States out there just pounding away and saying, 'Oh, look, we have got to do it my way and only my way.'"
"And there is — and I stress the word 'pathetic' — why is the president of the United States feeling so out of it, or disabled that he has to say things like that?" Woodward continued. "Makes no sense. iAnd this, of course, is a common characteristic of Trump. He doesn't know what's in his own interests. If you had a friend who was talking in public and saying things like Trump says, you know, people don't explain to me, I explain to them, you would sit the friend down and say, 'Let's tone it down.'"
Watch the video below or at the link here.
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