Karoline Leavitt defends Trump

After President Donald Trump called a reporter a “little pig,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt suggested to reporters Thursday that they should be grateful that he looks them in the eye and insults them.

“I think being up front and open and honest with you instead of hiding behind your back is, frankly, much more respectful than what you saw in the last administration, where you had a president who lied to your face and didn’t speak to you for weeks,” he said.

Leavitt was responding to a reporter who asked during Thursday’s press conference what Trump meant when he told Bloomberg reporter Catherine Lucey to “calm down, piggy” aboard Air Force One. The incident took place on Friday but was not made public until this week.

JIM WATSON via Getty Images

Trump, Leavitt said, is simply a “very frank and honest” man. She referred to his frankness three more times in about a minute.

“It’s one of the many reasons the American people re-elected this president, because of his outspokenness,” he said.

Leavitt also suggested that journalists are to blame for irritating the president.

“He calls out fake news when he sees it,” she said. “He gets frustrated with journalists when they lie about him, when they spread false news about him and his administration.”

Trump hurled the “piggy” insult at Lucey after she asked him about the possibility that he could be incriminated in the files his Justice Department has on deceased child sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein. The incident was captured on video, showing Trump wagging his finger at Lucey while she is off-screen.

Before Leavitt’s comments, the White House issued a statement criticizing Lucey.

“This reporter behaved inappropriately and unprofessionally with her colleagues on the plane,” the statement said. “If you’re going to give it, you have to be able to receive it.”