Overview
- During a White House exchange on Dec. 9, the president called ABC News correspondent Rachel Scott “the most obnoxious” and “a terrible reporter” after she asked if he would release full footage of a Pentagon boat strike.
- He denied having pledged to release the video despite saying last week he would have “no problem” sharing “whatever they have,” and he deferred the decision to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
- The footage concerns a Sept. 2 operation against a Venezuelan-flagged vessel in the Caribbean, with reports alleging a follow-on strike may have targeted survivors, an allegation still under review that, if proven, could constitute a war crime.
- MS NOW host Nicolle Wallace condemned the remarks as “sick” verbal abuse and urged the press corps to show solidarity rather than normalize attacks on women journalists.
- MS NOW’s Lawrence O’Donnell praised Scott’s persistence and pressed reporters to challenge contradictions, citing a recent pattern of insults at female journalists including Kaitlan Collins, Nancy Cordes, Katie Rogers, Mary Bruce and Catherine Lucey.