"I think Jim Acosta's a very unprofessional man," President Donald Trump said on Friday after Acosta's White House access was taken away Thursday. | Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images White House Trump draws rebukes for scolding female reporters of color 'I watch you a lot, you ask a lot of stupid questions,' Trump told CNN reporter Abby Phillip, who is black.

During a rant on Friday about CNN reporter Jim Acosta, President Donald Trump turned to another reporter, April Ryan.

"You talk about somebody that's a loser," Trump said of Ryan, a White House correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks who is African American. "She doesn't know what the hell she's doing."


During the gaggle in front of the White House, Trump continued to criticize reporters and went after another reporter of color.

“What a stupid question that is. What a stupid question," he told CNN reporter Abby Phillip after she asked if Trump wants Whitaker to "rein in Mueller."

"But I watch you a lot, you ask a lot of stupid questions," the president continued to Phillip before turning away and refusing to answer the question.

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Journalists, media groups and academics immediately started speaking up, saying the remarks revealed a bifurcated approach between how the president treats white reporters and those who are women or people of color, including PBS NewsHour White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor, with whom he also quarrelled this week. While the president insults many journalists, these critics say his barbs targeting women and people of color feel especially sharp, and hit at the reporter's basic intelligence and competence as a person. It's a tone that black reporters and scholars of African-American history say particularly stings, given that African-Americans journalists were not allowed into the White House until 1947 — and that the White House press corps remains overwhelmingly white to this day.

"Things have gotten contentious between the president and the press, but this is unlike anything we've seen since the days that African Americans were first allowed into the White House to report," said Marcia Chatelain, an African-American studies professor at Georgetown University. Alice Allison Dunnigan was the first African-American to serve as White House correspondent, which she gained access to in 1947.

"Although we have a 70-year history of African-American reporters being brought into the White House, it seems that this president wants to extend beyond those years in the days that they were banned," she added.

The National Association of Black Journalists on Friday said Trump's comments towards Ryan, Philip and Alcindor were "appalling, irresponsible and should be denounced."

"The most powerful man in the free world is verbally abusing journalists," NABJ President Sarah Glover said. "The past two years have been filled with assaults on the media and Donald Trump's comments this week have reached an all-time low with attacks on three black female journalists."

Trump's scolds also drew attention as they came the same week the president repeatedly interrupted reporters who had accents, saying that he did not understand them. To some media observers, Trump's reactions echoed reports that Trump has previously mocked the accent of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi or mimicked the style of Asian trade negotiators.

Chatelain said Trump's behavior demonstrates his contempt toward people of color and women, even as he continues to denounce many members of the media as "fake news."

“These reporters really represent three segments of the population that this president has often used to air out his deepest hostilities, and his deepest held racism," Chatelain said. Trump has repeatedly shot down suggestions that he is racist.

One of Trump's most hostile exchanges this week with a reporter of color came when he sparred with Alcindor when she asked Trump whether he worries his rhetoric is emboldening white nationalists.

"That is such a racist question," Trump fired back, adding that the question "is so insulting to me. It’s a very terrible thing you said.”

Of course, Trump has frequently sparred with white reporters, as well. Trump told Washington Post reporter Josh Dawsey this week that one of his questions was "stupid," echoing the language he used with Phillip. He also went after NBC News's Peter Alexander on Wednesday, calling him "fake news." And he has spared some reporters of color, such as Fox News White House correspondent Kevin Corke, who is black.

But journalists and reporters say Trump seemed to go one step further in his attacks on journalists like Ryan, Phillip and Alcindor. For instance, while Trump dismissed Dawsey's question as stupid, he went one step further with Phillip by noting "I watch you a lot" and and that she asks "a lot of stupid questions." With Ryan, he added on that she was a "loser."

Critics say the additions are meant to undercut the person's entire character, value and intelligence, not just their professional conduct. They see a pattern, pointing to an interaction earlier this year with ABC News White House correspondent Cecilia Vega when Trump said she "never thinks." Trump also raised eyebrows earlier this month when he called Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, who is black, "not qualified," citing "her past" and "her history" without offering specifics.

The journalists who were the target of Trump's ire defended each other on Friday.

Alcindor in a tweet came to Phillip's and Ryan's defense, calling Phillip "a smart, professional, and hardworking journalist. Not only was her question to Pres Trump not stupid, it was asked in public service because it’s what people want to know."

In a separate tweet, Alcindor said Ryan is "not a loser" and has "been winning in her personal and professional lives for a while."

Press advocates worried, though, that Trump might bar these reporters from the White House if they continued to hit him with tough questions.

The White House earlier this week revoked Acosta's access credentials without any indication about if it would be reinstated. And Trump warned Friday that other reporters could have their security badges revoked, too.

"As far as I'm concerned, I haven't made that decision," Trump said of restoring Acosta's press pass. "But there could be others also."