President Donald Trump and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt criticized CBS News’ Face the Nation moderator Margaret Brennan during an interview Friday with the Daily Caller, calling her performance poor and dismissing her line of questioning in recent interviews.
The exchange came as Trump discussed his settlement with CBS’ parent company, Paramount, following his accusation that the company engaged in election interference through its handling of a 60 Minutes interview with then–Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump also speculated about the future of longtime CBS anchor Norah O’Donnell, who stepped down earlier this year from CBS Evening News but remains employed at the network
“Pay her $12 million a year, and she’s not going to be there very long,” Trump told the outlet.
“But if she’s not already out, I mean, she’s pretty close, I would say she’s pretty close.”
Trump then shifted to Brennan. “The woman on the Face the Nation is so bad,” he said.
Turning to Leavitt, who was with him during the interview, Trump asked for her opinion.
“She’s stupid. You can put that on the record,” Leavitt responded.
“She’s nasty,” Trump added.
Trump went on to highlight the performance of Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a recent appearance on Brennan’s program.
“He handled her,” Trump said, praising Rubio’s approach.
Daily Caller White House reporter Reagan Reese noted that Rubio frequently appears on Face the Nation. Trump replied, “Because he’s good and he’s smart.”
Rubio’s most recent exchange with Brennan centered on Trump’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders following the president’s Alaska summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Brennan pressed Rubio about concerns from European officials regarding the negotiations.
“You know there is concern from the Europeans that President Zelensky is going to be bullied into signing something away. That’s why you have these European leaders coming as backup tomorrow,” Brennan said during the program.
Rubio interrupted, disputing the premise of her question.
“That is not true,” Rubio said, speaking over Brennan.
“But that’s not true, they’re not coming here tomorrow to keep Zelensky from being bullied.”
Rubio continued, “We had one meeting with Putin and like a dozen meetings with Zelensky… They’re not coming here tomorrow to keep Zelensky from being bullied. They are coming here because we’ve been working with the Europeans. We talked to them last week… The President talked to these leaders as early as Thursday… This is such a stupid media narrative.”
The exchange drew attention for the sharp back-and-forth between Brennan and Rubio, with the secretary of state rejecting her framing of the discussions.
Trump and Leavitt used their remarks Friday to reinforce their criticism of Brennan’s coverage and to point to Rubio as an example of how administration officials should handle tough questioning.
The comments mark the latest in a series of criticisms Trump has leveled against CBS and its top anchors, as the administration continues to clash with major networks over coverage of U.S. foreign policy and domestic politics.
