'Unacceptable and undignified': Maria Shriver slams Trump's treatment of female journalists

Two days after Trump's combative Meet the Press interview with Kristen Welker, the condemnations keep pouring in. The latest being Maria Shriver, who went beyond criticizing the moment itself, zeroing in on what she calls Trump's deeper pattern of contempt toward women in the media; "...he saves his most childlike behavior and irrational language for female reporters, calling them all kinds of names that kids in kindergarten are given times out for," she wrote on X. 

Shriver, the former First Lady of California and a journalist herself, made clear she holds the standard firm regardless of title—no leader, CEO, or person of influence is exempt from basic decency. She catalogued what she sees as Trump's pattern of demeaning women in the media, calling them stupid, "piggy," or "darling," telling them to smile, and undermining their credibility, including a reference to Trump's on-air rebuke of CNN's Kaitlan Collins, whom he berated for rarely smiling, suggesting her composure reflected hatred.

Shriver's sharp critique echoed a growing chorus of condemnation over what many see as a pattern of gendered attacks on women in the media, and a presidency increasingly at odds with basic press respect. The 70-year-old author didn't just criticize; she issued a call to action, urging people to take a firm stance against Trump's repeated offenses. "Imagine this man screaming like this at your daughter, your wife, your sister, your mother... would you stand for it? No," Shriver concluded.

She is not the only one to flag the President's behavior towards women. Lev Parnas, a former associate of Donald Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, lambasted Trump in a lengthy post on X, suggesting that Trump insults, berates, threatens, and degrades women when they "dare to tell the truth." "He keeps using power as a weapon. This is not just about insults. This is about control," Parnas asserted.

Parnas held up the case of E. Jean Carroll as an example of Trump's tendency to intimidate women. This was seconded by Tim Miller, who outrightly labelled Trump's dismissal of Welker as "sexist."  Trump has repeatedly clashed with female reporters over the course of his first and second terms, at press briefings, Oval Office appearances, and social media posts. For instance, Trump shushed a female reporter on Air Force One before saying she was a "very obnoxious person," in March this year. In another incident in November last year, Trump insulted Bloomberg reporter Catherine Luceywith with "quiet, quiet piggy," after she followed up on a question.