President Donald Trump has spent the better part of this week railing against his former national security advisor John Bolton, whose tell all memoir about his time in the Trump administration is set to hit shelves next week.
Bolton's The Room Where It Happened alleges that Trump implored Chinese officials to help with his reelection, in addition to a bevy of other startling allegations. Despite insisting that the book is composed of nothing but lies, the White House is scrambling to halt publication, paradoxically claiming that the book contains potentially damaging national security secrets.
For his part, the President has followed his usual pattern for the less-than-amiable departures of his administration.
He insisted that Bolton was inept and a "wacko."
Wacko John Bolton's “exceedingly tedious"(New York Times) book is made up of lies & fake stories. Said all good about me, in print, until the day I fired him. A disgruntled boring fool who only wanted to go to war. Never had a clue, was ostracized & happily dumped. What a dope!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2020
Bolton's book, which is getting terrible reviews, is a compilation of lies and made up stories, all intended to make me look bad. Many of the ridiculous statements he attributes to me were never made, pure fiction. Just trying to get even for firing him like the sick puppy he is!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2020
The President had a lot of criticisms for Bolton, which made people wonder why Trump hired him in the first place, especially considering Trump's infamous campaign promise to hire "only the best people." The Trump White House has the highest turnover rate in modern presidential history.
CBS White House Correspondent Paula Reid wondered the same thing—and she wasn't afraid to ask Trump to his face.
Watch below.
A sour-looking Trump ignored a shouted question from a reporter about "why do you keep hiring people that you believe are wackos and liars?" as the event ended pic.twitter.com/oypjPJDfpU
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 18, 2020
As officials yelled at the press to disperse, Reid asked:
"Why do you keep hiring people that you believe are wackos and liars?"
Inquiring minds wanted to know.
This should be asked by every journalist that gets to question him, repeatedly, no other questions, until he answers with a coherent answer.
— Mr. Remos for 🇺🇸🏳️🌈🇺🇸 (@2020OneNation) June 18, 2020
That's a very good question.
— Gary H (@garyhymes) June 18, 2020
More of these questions, please!
— BadNewsB (@TheBadNewsB) June 18, 2020
That is the million-dollar question. Was Trump a terrible leader when he hired the people he now calls wackos and liars or is he a terrible leader for turning on them when they leave his employ. Either way, Trump cannot lead. He's a failure!
— Ashley Perry (@AshleyPerry2020) June 18, 2020
Very legitimate question!
— puppymonkeybaby (@apzanolli) June 18, 2020
The internet heaped praise upon Reid for her bluntness.
That is just brilliant 👏👏👏
— ilns🏴 (@ilns6) June 18, 2020
Paula! Paula!!
— David Weidman (@weidmandavid) June 18, 2020
He never answers @PaulaReidCBS's questions. She asks damn good ones that would incriminate him if he answered them honestly. @PaulaReidCBS rocks!
— Clockwork Hamma (@ClockworkHamma) June 19, 2020
Thank you Ms Reid. We know this is not an easy environment for reporters. Thank you for asking tough questions.
— Jack Hutton (@jackhutton) June 19, 2020
The United States is still waiting on that answer.