Donald Trump‘s clash with reporters over ‘difficult’ questions is no new thing. During an Oval Office press conference last Friday, President Donald Trump clashed with yet another reporter. This time the feud was with Urban Radio Network’s Ebony McMorris.
McMorris asked Trump about possible plans to send the National Guard to Memphis. “Quiet,” Trump snapped. “You’re really obnoxious.” But McMorris didn’t back down either. “I’m not obnoxious, but I’m trying to ask you what about your plans for Memphis. Many people wanted to know…?”
Trump cut her off again. “You are really obnoxious.” The exchange didn’t stop there. “I’m not obnoxious, but I am asking what are your plans for Memphis?” McMorris insisted. The president shot back, “Ok, I’m not going to talk to you until I call on you.” Then he turned to another reporter.
McMorris refused to step back. She still pushed for an answer. “What are your plans for Memphis, Mr. President?” she asked again. However this time, Donald Trump simply ignored her. Her questions came as the administration considered deploying federal troops to several Democrat-led cities, including Memphis, Baltimore, and Chicago.
After the tense exchange, the Washington Association of Black Journalists, of which McMorris is a member, posted a message of support on X. “Asking difficult questions, you don’t want to hear does not make her ‘obnoxious.’ Ebony is just doing her job, like everyone else in the room,” the group wrote. Social media users commented as well.
“Trump attacked a black woman? Seriously, when I saw the clip, I assumed it was a black woman because that’s how he talks to all of them…” one user wrote. Another comment read, “What if she said, sir, you’re the one that is outrageously obnoxious, not me.” The criticism kept going. “Asking about actual policy? Forget it. The response: insults and silence. Watching him dodge questions with tantrums and name-calling is surreal,” another user posted on X. Another commenter added, “Leadership isn’t about attacking reporters, it’s about answers, accountability, and competence.”
McMorris isn’t the first reporter to have such an encounter with Trump this month. NBC’s Yamiche Alcindor faced a similar moment when she questioned him about sending troops into Chicago and the idea of renaming the Department of Defense.
“You trying to go to war with Chicago?” Alcindor asked. “Be quiet. Listen! You don’t listen. You never listen,” Trump said, before he called her “darling.” Then, he further added, “That’s why you’re second-rate.”
