A Republican congresswoman downplayed President Donald Trump’s viral “piggy” insult, saying it showed he was willing to “dare to do things others do not dare to do.”
Appearing on CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper, Florida Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar shrugged off a video showing Trump, 79, pointing at Bloomberg reporter Catherine Lucey and telling her “quiet piggy” after she asked a follow-up question about his former friend and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“No one is perfect,” Salazar told Tapper, adding, “those who are perfect are in Heaven.”
Throughout his second term, the president has repeatedly discussed his chances of getting into Heaven, telling reporters he doesn’t think he “can make it”—comments he has since described as sarcastic remarks.
Tapper did not to comment on Salazar’s defense of the president’s actions, though he has previously criticized Trump’s behavior as “disgusting and completely unacceptable.”
Salazar also described the president as “picturesque, and difficult, and a different type of politician,” but said she judges him by his policies, not his personality.
Trump has a history of publicly insulting female reporters. During his first presidential campaign, he targeted then-FOX News host Megyn Kelly, claiming she had “blood coming out of her wherever” after she questioned him about calling women “fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals.”
In October, the president called CNN White House correspondent Kristen Holmes “one of the worst reporters that you’ll ever see.” One day after the video surfaced of Trump calling Catherine Lucey “piggy” on Air Force One, he told ABC White House correspondent Mary Bruce to “learn how to be a reporter.”
In response to Trump’s recent comments, California Governor Gavin Newsom flooded X with real and altered photos of the president captioned “quiet piggy.” CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins defended reporters Bruce and Lucey, writing that they “both do a great job.” Trump’s niece, Mary Trump, called him a “lifelong hardcore misogynist” after seeing the video.
Salazar said Trump’s comments to Lucey only work for her own political mission. She directed her next comments to the president.
“You have that personality, and you have that fortitude, and you dare to do things others do not dare to do, you are the guy that needs to fix immigration for this country,” the Florida congresswoman, who’s also the daughter of Cuban exiles, said.
The congresswoman’s defense of the president aligns with the official White House response to Trump’s insult.
On Tuesday, a White House official told the Daily Beast that Lucey “behaved in an inappropriate and unprofessional way toward her colleagues on the plane,” and added that “If you’re going to give it, you have to be able to take.”
“Our White House journalists perform a vital public service, asking questions without fear or favor,” a Bloomberg spokesperson told The Guardian. “We remain focused on reporting issues of public interest fairly and accurately,” they added.
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