During his NBC Town Hall, President Donald Trump shouted “so cute” to moderator Savannah Guthrie as she grilled him on important topics, and it has social media fired up. Things seemed to go south when Guthrie asked Trump about his administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic as negatively compared to how many European countries handled it. Trump offered some statistics he believed made his argument, adding: “I knew you would be doing this, I know you very well.”
Next, Guthrie asked Trump about his past deflections when asked to denounce white supremacy, which made him visibly upset. “You always do this, you have done this to me and everybody. I denounced white supremacy, I have denounced it for years, you always do this, you always start off with a question. You didn’t ask Joe Biden if he denounces Antifa.”
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After talking over moderator Savannah Guthrie, ignoring questions about QAnon, Trump says “So cute.” pic.twitter.com/gOdj0sKdBo
— The Recount (@therecount) October 16, 2020
Guthrie then questioned Trump about right-wing conspiracy group QAnon, he replied, “I don’t know about QAnon, you tell me all about it and let’s waste the whole show.” He then, again, inquired why Guthrie hasn’t asked Biden about Antifa. She replied that it’s because she was not currently sitting and talking with Biden, to which Trump laughed and made his “so cute” quip. The moment got a big response out of social media users, and you can scroll down to read what they are saying.
@SavannahGuthrie did a fantastic job pressing @realDonaldTrump for answers under insane circumstances.
— Jessica Yellin (@JessicaYellin) October 16, 2020
It’s dispiriting – if predictable – that her attackers frame their criticisms around her gender, since they can’t criticize her journalistic chops. https://t.co/4RFT6hoXK3
Trump’s refusal to denounce white supremacy first made headlines recently when he avoided it during the first presidential debate with Biden. Moderator Chris Wallace asked him to do so, and he replied, “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.”
Dear @SavannahGuthrie – i don’t know how you didn’t go all out psycho scorched earth when he said “that’s cute” but THAT is why you are an A+ journalist. Well done, sister, on all of it.
— Cassie Kelley (@CassieMKelley) October 16, 2020
This was controversial, as the Proud Boys are right-wing extremists with ties to white supremacy. For many, Trump telling them to “stand by” sounded like a more of a call to action rather than a denouncement.
Trump just said “you’re so cute” to Samantha Guthrie. Dude is disgusting. #BidenTownHall
— Scott Dworkin (@funder) October 16, 2020
When discussing QAnon with Guthrie, Trump added, “I know nothing about it. I do know they are very much against pedophilia, they fight it very hard. But I know nothing about it,”
As a mother to a daughter, as a daughter myself, as a feminist, as a sister, as a female lawyer, if @realDonaldTrump could ever know the way that words, “so cute” land on my ears, stay with me, with @SavannahGuthrie, with all of us, he’d know his time is up.
— Jenna Van Klaveren (@jennavanklav08) October 16, 2020
According to the Anti-Defamation League, QAnon first surfaced on 4Chan ion 2017. It is a far-right conspiracy group who believes that Trump is fight a “deep state” Satanic cult of pedophiles.
It really pisses me off the way Trump says “so cute” to Savannah. All these patronizing dickheads gotta go
— Ready for a good night’s sleep again (@CancelSeason2) October 16, 2020
Notably, Trump has been asked about QAnon before, and delivered a similar reply, saying that he does not “know much about the movement.” He added, however, “I understand that they like me very much, which I appreciate.”
At 1:56 Trump condescendingly says “haha- so cute” when Savannah genuinely responds to his question. That’s what cat-callers say. That’s what creepy high school math teaches say. Not what the president of the United States says. https://t.co/PrHverOgKY
— Jaime Bartolett (@jaimebartolett) October 16, 2020
When it comes to Trump’s disdain for Antifa, things get a tab complicated, as Antifa is defined as a movement made up of activists, rather than a group with official members. This is what sets it apart from something like the Proud Boys, which is a definable group.
Did he really just say, “your so cute”, to Savannah in response to her question? Really? What the actual hell.
— Jamie (@freetofly2012) October 16, 2020
Per the NY Times, Antifa stands for “anti-fascist,” which means that those who associate with the movement are opposed to fascism. Trump believes this far-left movement should be defined as domestic terrorists, but critics have pointed out that a collection of activists with no defined structure or leadership doesn’t meet the criteria of being labeled a terror organization.
