It seems that some "journalists" in the White House press corps need to be reminded that access to the president is a privilege, not a right. And with that privilege comes the responsibility to behave professionally and with decorum.
Especially in a place like the Oval Office, where leaders of the world and others special guests of the president gather to chat with the leader of the free world. It doesn't matter if that guest is the King of England or a champion sports team or a regular citizen – every one of them must be treated with respect by media.
Unfortunately for one CNN reporter, her behavior didn't meet President Trump's standards and he let her know it.
The president was hosting hero teen lifeguard Ryder Williams and the boy he saved from rough surf last month in Seabright Beach in Santa Cruz, California. Video of Williams rescuing the drowning boy made headlines across the globe, earning him a trip to the White House. And he got to sit in the fireside chair that is usually reserved for dignitaries and kings.
.@POTUS hosts hero lifeguard Ryder Williams and the young man he saved, Nathaniel Rai, in the Oval Office.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 17, 2026
🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/UjtOHCawvP
As he tends to do, President Trump invited the press pool in to ask a few questions.
This is where CNN's Kristen Holmes, presumably sitting in for the dour-faced Kaitlan Collins, disgraced herself with an absurd question about the president preferring to travel with his aide Natalie Harp than to build the White House ballroom. She was repeating almost verbatim the dreck spouted by Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) in a recent speech.
.@KristenhCNN is a disgraceful, humiliating embarrassment to her alleged profession.@POTUS hosts a hero lifeguard in the Oval Office and she uses it as an opportunity to take a cheap shot about one of President Trump's staffers.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 17, 2026
These scumbags are the lowest of the low. pic.twitter.com/oUrwbAtBfJ
To his credit, the president responded calmly, saying they were making much-needed changes to the White House after years of neglect. If Holmes was expecting to provoke an outburst, she was sorely disappointed.
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However, to her everlasting discredit, Holmes proceeded to scream like a maniac over the other press members trying to get in a question. Her obnoxious behavior in front of the lifeguard and the boy he rescued prompted the president to completely and brutally shut her down with a few cutting remarks.
.@POTUS: "You're very disrespectful in front of this young man... You're a loud, boisterous person. You're Fake News. Be quiet. Be quiet. Be quiet. You're a fake reporter and you report FAKE NEWS." https://t.co/ag30QbC3Iu pic.twitter.com/BciRrLrCKD
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 17, 2026
It's sad that a grown woman needs to be reminded how to behave in front of young people, not to mention in her role as a reporter given the immense privilege of personal access to the president of the United States.
Interestingly, it looks as if Kristen Holmes' embarrassing behavior ran afoul of the White House Correspondents' Association's (WHCA) own guidelines, which call on members of the White House press pool to be respectful and neutral. The WHCA also states that "disruptive behavior is unacceptable" and instructs poolers to keep their reporting "fair, tasteful and objective" and to "stick to relevant facts."
It was just last week that the White House press corps had to learn this same lesson after being duped by the Air Force One decoy. Access to President Trump isn't a constitutional right because they have a White House credential dangling around their necks. It's a privilege to cover the president, one that comes with expectations of professionalism and basic decorum.
Holmes failed on all accounts, and got the public comeuppance she so richly deserved.
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