CNN Stars Back Female Colleague After Trump Launches Vile Personal Attack

CNN stars have backed their colleague Kristen Holmes after President Donald Trump and his administration made twisted personal attacks on her. Holmes appeared to set Trump off during a press gaggle in the Oval Office on Monday after asking the president for his response to a remark by Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff about Trump's close aide Natalie Harp, 35. At the Oval Office, the president deflected the question about Harp and spent over two minutes talking about his vanity construction products. Ten minutes later, Trump, 80, repeatedly shouted "QUIET!" at Holmes on Monday after the 40-year-old asked the president why he decided to scale back joint U.S. and South Korea military drills, and questioned him on his relationship with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. The president also called Holmes "disrespectful" and told her, "You're a fake reporter and you report fake news!" That led to the White House's Rapid Response 47 X account melting down on X over Holmes' questions, calling the senior CNN reporter "a disgraceful, humiliating embarrassment to her alleged profession." Less than 30-minutes later, the Rapid Response account then got personal, roping Holmes' family into its insults. "Someday, your children will come across your disgusting and inhumane question," the second post said, tagging Holmes' account. "They will be sickened and embarrassed to have a parent be so callous and vindictive. It's quite troubling," the scathing post stated. CNN defended Holmes in a statement to the Daily Beast, describing her as "one of the most respected and accomplished journalists covering the White House." It added: "Public officials are free to challenge reporting they disagree with, but personal attacks on journalists for asking questions are beneath the office and inconsistent with the principles of a free press." "We stand firmly behind Kristen and reject these attacks in the strongest possible terms." Anderson Cooper played Trump's insults on CNN's AC360, saying the president had done the "thing he does with reporters, especially women who are doing their jobs." After airing the awkward exchange, Cooper said, "Well, it was certainly not an unreasonable question to ask, did North Korea's brutal dictator somehow talk the president of the United States into acting against the interests of a long-time democratically governed ally, South Korea?"