President Donald Trump speaks during a coronavirus task force briefing at the White House, Friday, March 20, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

If you haven’t been watching Trump’s daily Wuhan virus pressers, you are missing out on some quality entertainment. Every day, the media show themselves to be more and more partisan, constantly pressing the President on the most irrelevant, petty things.

While we  thankfully didn’t get questions about the name of the virus today (see White House Reporters Continue to Beclown Themselves), we did get an exchange between Trump and NBC News’ Peter Alexander that set off a rather large round of hand wringing from the press.

"What do you say to Americans who are watching you right now who are scared?"

President Trump: "I'd say you're a terrible reporter… The American people are looking for answers and they're looking for hope and you're doing sensationalism…" pic.twitter.com/JEQmH6XPYp

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) March 20, 2020

Here was Alexander’s response before we get to what he’s not telling you.

I offered both Pres Trump and VP Pence an opportunity to reassure Americans.

Simple question: “What do you say to Americans who are scared?”

Trump, to me: “I say, you’re a terrible reporter.”

Pence, an hour later: “Don’t be afraid. Be vigilant.”

— Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) March 20, 2020

Except that’s not what he did and he knows it. If you listen to the full exchange in context, Alexander actually led with a typical biased attack in which he tried to accuse the President of presenting false hope to the American people.

Peter Alexander asked President Trump this right before he called him a "terrible reporter":

"Is it possible that your impulse to put a positive spin on things may be giving Americans a false sense of hope?”

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) March 20, 2020

That obviously incensed Trump, and I can’t blame him. He’s out there trying to advise the public, including giving them information on a possible new treatment, and the media can’t just say “ok, we’ll wait and see how that goes.” Instead the conversation shifts immediately to whether Trump is lying about the treatment, even though he clearly said it’s undergoing testing and could go either way.

The question Alexander asked was goofy: “Is your impulse to put a positive spin on things maybe giving Americans a false sense of hope and misrepresenting your preparedness right now.”

You expect the reply to be what, yes Peter, they should be terrified? It’s a dumb question.

— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) March 20, 2020

Meanwhile, the meltdown started over Trump’s response.

CNN's John King calls Trump's fight with Peter Alexander "reprehensible" and "bullshit"

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) March 20, 2020

Perhaps @JohnKingCNN shouldn't be complaining about Trump taking attention away from saving lives by fighting with Peter Alexander when he spent eight minutes straight (plus bits and pieces before and after) talking about just that tussle

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) March 20, 2020

Here’s the thing. The media continually whine whenever they are criticized, yet they continue to try to make themselves the story. If they want the reporting to just be straight information on the health crisis, they have the power to make it that. Doing so would leave Trump without a foil. But they can’t help themselves.

Brit Hume chimed in with his opinion on the matter.

Legitimate question my a**. It was the kind of bullsh*t gotcha question which hack WH reporters have been asking for decades. But instead of going off on the reporter, Trump should have said the whole briefing in all its particulars was a message to people who are scared. https://t.co/Qg0lYC1fxk

— Brit Hume (@brithume) March 20, 2020

I think it’s probably correct that the response could have been more diplomatic, but Trump is who he is. He’s not going to wax poetic to journalists who continually mislead and play partisan games, even during a national crisis. Alexander had basically accused him of lying at the cost of people’s lives, as overstating preparedness could get people killed. The President got fed up and snapped back at the reporter’s dumb, gotcha question. I’m not going to clutch any pearls over it.