U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 16, 2026. REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon
A decade after winning the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, U.S. President Donald Trump continues to relentlessly attack the press — often accusing reporters of spreading "fake news." And according to legal scholar and former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuade, Trump has a major reason for lashing out at the press: his fear of answering tough questions.
In a Wednesday, August 19 post on X, formerly Twitter, McQuade wrote, "Attacking reporters, particularly female reporters and now even one's children, is a Trump tactic used to disguise is inability to answer a hard question. We deserve a leader with some maturity and respect for the role of the press to inform the public."
One of the female reporters that McQuade was referencing in her X post was CNN's Kristen Holmes.
During a press conference on Monday, Trump angrily lashed out at Holmes. And a social media post from the Trump White House also invoked her children, which, the Washington Post's Scott Nover noted, was "crossing a barrier rarely breached by politicians."
During the presser, Holmes asked Trump about the reduction of U.S. military exercises in South Korea and said of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, "Did he ask you specifically to scale back on those?"
Trump was infuriated by that question, telling Holmes, "You're very disrespectful" and calling her a "loud, boisterous person."
Later, the Trump White House doubled down on its attacks on Holmes with a social media post, writing, "@KristenhCNN is a disgraceful, humiliating embarrassment to her alleged profession. Someday, your children will come across your disgusting and inhumane question. They will be sickened and embarrassed to have a parent be so callous and vindictive. It's quite troubling."
Trump isn't the first U.S. president to express frustration with the press, but according to McQuade, his obsessive hatred for reporters is something else entirely.
In addition to working as a law professor at the University of Michigan, the former U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutor is often featured as a legal analyst for MS NOW (former MSNBC) and contributes legal and opinion articles to MS NOW's website.
McQuade criticized Trump and U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche vehemently in a Tuesday op-ed, warning that changes implemented by Blanche and his allies at DOJ could erase Watergate-era reforms to the federal government.
McQuade argued, "Under Todd Blanche, the Justice Department is transforming before our eyes from an agency that administers the rule of law to one that obeys the command of President Donald Trump. On Sunday, the recently confirmed attorney general refused to pledge to act independently of the White House."
