After President Donald Trump wouldn't explicitly condemn white supremacy onstage at the chaotic presidential debate earlier this week, a slew of questions regarding Trump's words were posed to White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany during a Thursday press briefing.
When asked by Democratic nominee Joe Biden to condemn the Proud Boys—a self-described "western chauvinist" militia known for inciting violence at racial justice protests, Trump instead told them to "stand back and stand by."
The President later claimed not to know who the Proud Boys were, which prompted Fox News White House correspondent John Roberts to ask Kayleigh McEnany for a "definitive and declarative statement" against white supremacist groups, including the Proud Boys.
In an interview after the briefing, Roberts unleashed on viewers of the conservative Fox News network who hammered him for pressing the White House on Trump's comments.
Watch below.
Some pretty striking comments from John Roberts on Fox pic.twitter.com/zqftfKoluF
— Dave Brown (@dave_brown24) October 1, 2020
A visibly angry Roberts said:
"[F]or all of you on Twitter who are hammering me for asking that question, I don't care. Because it's a question that needs to be asked, and clearly the president's Republican colleagues a mile away from here are looking for an answer for it too. So stop deflecting. Stop blaming the media. I'm tired of it."
On-air personalities at Fox News frequently bash the so-called "liberal mainstream media" to the point that many of its viewers trust no other widely-aired news network.
People reminded Roberts of this.
"Stop deflecting, stop blaming the media," said Doctor Frankenstein to his monster. https://t.co/zz5VfU4pWu
— Joshua Holland 🔥 (@JoshuaHol) October 1, 2020
Coming home to roost at Fox. https://t.co/8jHfa2zuM0
— benwedeman (@bencnn) October 1, 2020
Fox's John Roberts is pissed off that people want him to be more OAN. https://t.co/feqc2907xU
— Mark Jacob (@MarkJacob16) October 1, 2020
Do you think @FoxNews is starting to sense that the end is near—and that there may be a reckoning at hand?
Exhibit A:https://t.co/xvh9rkXSNR
— Ted Genoways (@TedGenoways) October 1, 2020
Others praised Roberts for speaking his mind on air.
Exactly! Well-done @johnrobertsFox! https://t.co/nw43MTmCSg
— Elizabeth de la Vega (@Delavegalaw) October 1, 2020
So glad John Reports spoke up today. https://t.co/Ghb7rRpgS4
— Stephen Michael (@stephenreports) October 1, 2020
More of this please @johnrobertsFox 👏🏻👏🏻 https://t.co/MAwUgoBCOb
— medit8now (@medit8now) October 1, 2020
It was a breath of fresh air.
— Susan Bordson (@susanbordson) October 1, 2020
WHOA, this is a must-watch😳
John Roberts from Fox News does not hold back, after Press Sec avoids directly denouncing white supremacists#WorstTrumpEverpic.twitter.com/XW2QOw8g9c
— Lindy Li (@lindyli) October 1, 2020
The next presidential debate will be held on October 15.
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
@pamspaulding/Bluesky
@bravern1/Threads
@WeinsteinLaw/X
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
@GovPressOffice/X
Amber Punch Brown/Facebook
David Schwegman/Facebook
Alison McKay Campbell/Facebook
@wsu311/X
Kevin Elmore/Facebook
@obamaatredrobin/X
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social