A columnist for The Guardian argued on Friday that President Donald Trump's attempt at "cuteness" when he called a reporter a "piggy" has backfired spectacularly.
Earlier this week, Trump was asked about the Jeffrey Epstein files while on Air Force One. In response, he pointed his finger at the reporter and said tersely, "Quiet, piggy!" The moment sparked outrage from analysts across the political aisle.
Emma Brockes, a columnist for The Guardian, discussed Trump's comments in a new column for the outlet.
"As with everything the man does, the effect was disastrous and totally inappropriate," Brockes wrote. "But rewatching the video, I saw from the president less an example of his usual bigotry and more an attempt at what looked like 'OK, kiddo' cuteness that, catastrophically, and before I could nip it in the bud, had triggered a tiny sprig of sympathy."
Brockes added that the moment captured Trump's "explosive rage" and revealed something "unnerving" about the president.
"Trump’s explosive rage was well under way before she’d even finished speaking, and the same thing struck one about his language as it always does: that the babyish register of calling someone a 'terrible person and a terrible reporter' is more unnerving – more sinister in a booky wook Clockwork Orange kind of a way – than someone who speaks like a functioning adult," she wrote.
