Critics have fiercely condemned the White House’s highly personal online attack on a CNN journalist who asked Donald Trump an uncomfortable question.
Trump tore into CNN’s senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes during an Oval Office event on Monday, repeatedly telling her to be quiet, calling her “very disrespectful” and “fake news” and “a loud, boisterous person” after she asked him for comment about Sen. Jon Ossoff’s (D-Ga.) remark about his close relationship with aide Natalie Harp.
The White House’s rapid response account on X shared footage of the exchange and first slammed Holmes as “a disgraceful, humiliating embarrassment to her alleged profession,” called her question a “cheap shot” and said: “These scumbags are the lowest of the low.”
Then, it got even more personal, writing to the mother-of-two:
“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.”
.@KristenhCNN: 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. https://t.co/EWgPy7mXQP
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 17, 2026
CNN defended Holmes, calling her “one of the most respected and accomplished journalists covering the White House” and saying that “personal attacks on journalists for asking questions are beneath the office and inconsistent with the principles of a free press.”
We stand firmly behind @KristenhCNN and reject these attacks in the strongest possible terms. https://t.co/qxDJW7XAmW pic.twitter.com/ui86bU6iGT
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) August 17, 2026
CNN White House Correspondent Alayna Treene hailed her colleague as “an incredible reporter, person and, above all, mother.”
What a horrible to thing to say. Kristen is an incredible reporter, person and, above all, mother.
I don’t understand such a reaction to a journalist asking the president for his response to something a Democratic senator has leveled against him https://t.co/zDftKopTTD
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— Alayna Treene (@alaynatreene) August 17, 2026
Former Trump officials-turned-critics Sarah Matthews and Stephanie Grisham slammed the post as “vindictive” and “cowardly & pathetic.”
“What the actual fuck is wrong with this White House invoking @KristenhCNN’s children for simply asking the President to respond to an attack from a Democratic senator?” asked Matthews.
What the actual fuck is wrong with this White House invoking @KristenhCNN’s children for simply asking the President to respond to an attack from a Democratic senator?
This response is infinitely more callous and vindictive than her perfectly legitimate question.
Everyone who… https://t.co/PUoNPEtLzd
— Sarah Matthews (@SarahAMatthews1) August 17, 2026
This is so cowardly & pathetic. Don’t hide behind a White House account…show everyone who the asshat behind the keyboard is. https://t.co/aX1ChmvBL7
— Stephanie Grisham (@OMGrisham) August 17, 2026
Others agreed:
Just disgusting behavior by an anonymous account. A normal human would have enough shame not to post something like this. A normal WH would be embarrassed by this. https://t.co/Og8dndKLjT
— Chuck Todd (@chucktodd) August 17, 2026
Kristen is an exceptional reporter and a wonderful person. And mentioning children here is beyond the pale. https://t.co/PGxRzxE8lV
— Annah Aschbrenner (@AnnahBackstrom) August 17, 2026
The projection of these MAGA Monsters. Their grandchildren will be disgusted by their inhumanity. https://t.co/qFFcDRsobB
— Sophia A. Nelson (@IAmSophiaNelson) August 18, 2026
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