Former President Donald Trump was so angry with an NBC News correspondent that he grabbed the journalist’s two phones and demanded that he be removed from an airplane interview.
This happened on March 25 and resulted from questions from NBC’s Vaughn Hillyard about the case at that time nearing an official indictment before the former President was charged with 32 criminal counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush-money scheme.
Vanity Fair reports:
It was March and former president Donald Trump was aboard his plane with a gaggle of reporters following a campaign rally in Waco, Texas. He started off in good spirits. But then a line of questioning from NBC News reporter Vaughn Hillyard, who suggested that Trump had in recent days seemed “frustrated” by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s investigation, began irritating the former president. “Don’t ask me any more questions,” Trump said. About 10 minutes later, as Hillyard continued to ask about the investigation, Trump snapped, grabbing the reporter’s two phones and chucking them to the side, according to a source familiar with the matter. “Get him out of here,” Trump told his aides, according to a recording obtained by Vanity Fair.
He hasn’t changed one bit. He never will.
The incident occurred a few days before Trump would be indicted by a Manhattan grand jury for his role in hush-money payments made to Stormy Daniels. Some of Trump’s comments on the plane have been previously reported, such as when he responded to reporters’ questions about Bragg’s probe by attacking it as a “fake case” that “they’ve already dropped.” The Guardian noted how Trump lashed out at Hillyard when the NBC News reporter asked whether he was frustrated by the investigation. Trump denied the notion, insisting, “We did nothing wrong,” and saying, “This is fake news, and NBC is one of the worst. Don’t ask me any more questions.” Hillyard himself said Trump avoided specifics and called the press “fake news.” But the full scope of Trump’s tirade, including his throwing the reporter’s phones, has not been previously reported. Hillyard declined to comment.
That’s interesting that even Hillyard didn’t report this. They do this for the ratings. Trump claims to be a media victim, but they cover up for him to be allowed in his presence.
As Oliver Willis explains it, “The mainstream media has a symbiotic connection to Donald Trump. They profit handily from his continued prominence as a significant political figure in America.”
And that’s how we ended up with Trump in 2016. He got so much exposure. It’s like looking at a trainwreck, and you keep watching but don’t know why. It’s a disaster. And the disaster got elected.
It’s happening again. CNN has agreed to host a Trump town hall. They’re trying to normalize the former president’s attempted coup because ratings are more important.
