'Tough guy!': Trump mocks NYT columnist Bret Stephens for bedbug reaction
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump on Wednesday mocked New York Times columnist Bret Stephens for his reaction of being called a bedbug.
In a tweet, Trump called him Stephens a "lightweight journalist" and "a Conservative who does anything that his bosses at the paper tell him to do!," before adding, "He is now quitting Twitter after being called a 'bedbug,' Tough guy!"
Trump's comments comes after a controversy that started on Monday. George Washington University associate professor David Karpf joked on Twitter that Stephens was a bedbug after reports that there was a bedbug infestation in the New York Times newsroom.
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Stephens, in an email, scolded Karpf for his comment and copied the provost at the professor's university. The exchange went viral after Karpf posted a screenshot of the full email to Twitter.
“I’m often amazed about the things supposedly decent people are prepared to say about other people -- people they’ve never met -- on Twitter,” Stephens wrote to Karpf. “I think you’ve set a new standard.”
“The infestation of bedbugs at The New York Times office” @OANN was perhaps brought in by lightweight journalist Bret Stephens, a Conservative who does anything that his bosses at the paper tell him to do! He is now quitting Twitter after being called a “bedbug.” Tough guy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 28, 2019
