President Donald Trump on Monday scolded an Associated Press reporter who asked about the progress of Senate Republicans’ plan to repeal Obamacare.
According to a pool report, reporters were “unexpectedly summoned” into the East Room of the White House to observe a photo-op with Trump and White House interns.
A reporter, who Bloomberg’s Jennifer Epstein identified as the Associated Press’ Catherine Lucey, asked Trump if he thought Attorney General Jeff Sessions should resign. Trump didn’t answer, but video of the exchange shows him rolling his eyes, to laughter from the interns.
Lucey then asked Trump if he had anything to say about Senate Republicans’ Obamacare repeal effort.
“Quiet,” he said, to more laughter from the interns. “You see, they’re not supposed to do that,” he added, turning to the interns behind him. “But they do it. But they’re not supposed to.”
Watch the exchange below via NBC News:
"Do you have a message on health care?"
President Trump, during a photo op with WH interns: "Quiet!" pic.twitter.com/6sgBqSrzwi
— NBC News (@NBCNews) July 24, 2017
Lucey retweeted a statement from her colleague, Julie Pace, who said the reporter “is not going to keep quiet.”
Trust me, @catherine_lucey is not going to keep quiet
— Julie Pace (@jpaceDC) July 24, 2017
It’s not the first time Trump has scolded a member of the press. He’s done the same to NBC’s Katy Tur, CNN’s Jim Acosta and Ami Magazine’s Jake Turx, among many others.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) reportedly plans to hold a “motion to proceed” vote on an Obamacare repeal bill on Tuesday — though it’s still unclear which version the Senate will vote on considering. So far, McConnell doesn’t have the votes to advance any bill to the Senate floor for a vote, including a “repeal-and-delay” bill that does not include measures to replace the massive 2010 health care law.
As for the attorney general — he’s clearly not on Trump’s good side. Last week, Trump told the New York Times that he would not have hired Sessions if he had know he would recuse himself from matters related to the 2016 campaign and Russian meddling in the election.
On Monday, Trump called Sessions “beleaguered” and questioned why he wasn’t investigating Hillary Clinton.
This post has been updated.
