Rather than confront the facts, he attacked her credibility instead.
En las afueras de la Casa Blanca, donde la violencia y la política se entrelazan, el presidente Trump eligió esta semana atacar a la mensajera en lugar de responder al mensaje. Cuando la periodista Nancy Cordes citó hallazgos documentados sobre los procedimientos de verificación de afganos evacuados, Trump la llamó estúpida y repitió afirmaciones contradichas por los propios registros de su administración. Este episodio no es una anomalía, sino parte de una tensión más antigua y profunda: la que existe entre el poder que prefiere no ser interrogado y la prensa cuya función es precisamente interrogarlo.
- Un tiroteo cerca de la Casa Blanca que dejó un muerto y dos miembros de la Guardia Nacional heridos se convirtió en el escenario de una confrontación entre hechos verificables y narrativa política.
- El sospechoso, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, no era un desconocido sin verificar: era un exagente de la unidad de contraterrorismo afgana que colaboró directamente con la CIA, y su asilo fue aprobado en abril de 2025, bajo la propia administración Trump.
- En lugar de responder a las evidencias citadas por la periodista, Trump recurrió al insulto personal, llamándola 'estúpida' dos veces, repitiendo una táctica que también ha usado contra otras corresponsales femeninas como Catherine Lucey y Mary Bruce.
- Trump ha amenazado con revocar licencias de emisión de ABC y presionado a CBS, convirtiendo las preguntas periodísticas incómodas en pretextos para atacar la independencia de los medios.
- El patrón revela una estrategia deliberada: castigar las preguntas difíciles con insultos y amenazas institucionales, erosionando la función de rendición de cuentas que la prensa libre está llamada a cumplir.
Donald Trump llamó estúpida a Nancy Cordes, corresponsal de CBS en la Casa Blanca, cuando ella le preguntó por qué culpaba a la administración Biden del tiroteo que mató a una persona y dejó heridos a dos miembros de la Guardia Nacional. Cordes había citado los hallazgos del inspector general del Departamento de Justicia, que documentan que los evacuados afganos fueron sometidos a investigaciones exhaustivas. Trump ignoró los hechos y atacó directamente a la periodista.
Lo que Trump omitió es revelador: el sospechoso, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, había servido en NDS-03, una unidad de élite antiterrorista afgana que operó con apoyo directo de la CIA. Llegó a Estados Unidos en 2021 bajo la Operación Aliados Bienvenidos, solicitó asilo durante la administración Biden, pero ese asilo fue aprobado en abril de 2025, bajo la administración Trump. La narrativa de que estos afganos entraron sin ser investigados choca directamente con los registros oficiales.
Este episodio no es aislado. Días antes, Trump llamó 'cerdita' a la corresponsal de Bloomberg Catherine Lucey cuando intentaba preguntar sobre correos relacionados con Jeffrey Epstein. Cuando la periodista de ABC Mary Bruce interrogó al príncipe heredero saudí sobre el asesinato de Jamal Khashoggi, Trump la acusó de ser una pésima periodista y amenazó con revocar la licencia de emisión de ABC. También presionó a CBS para que no renovara el contrato de Stephen Colbert.
El patrón es consistente: cuando los periodistas —especialmente las mujeres— hacen preguntas incómodas pero legítimas, Trump responde con insultos personales y amenazas a las instituciones mediáticas. Las preguntas sobre procedimientos de verificación, sobre la muerte de un periodista, sobre un condenado por delitos sexuales, son exactamente el tipo de preguntas que la prensa libre debe hacer. Que el presidente las trate como provocaciones merecedoras de castigo dice mucho sobre su concepción del escrutinio público.
Donald Trump called a CBS journalist stupid this week for asking him a straightforward question about Afghan vetting procedures. Nancy Cordes, the network's White House correspondent, had cited findings from the Department of Justice inspector general showing that Afghan evacuees brought to the United States underwent thorough investigation. She wanted to know why Trump was blaming the Biden administration for the shooting near the White House that killed one person and targeted two National Guard members. Trump's response was to attack her intelligence rather than address the facts she'd raised.
"Are you stupid?" he said, then continued without pause: "You're a stupid person." He went on to claim that thousands of Afghans had been allowed into the country without proper screening, that they arrived on large aircraft, and that a law made it nearly impossible to remove them once they'd entered. The entire evacuation, he said, was incompetent and shameful. What he did not mention was that the shooting suspect, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, had actually served in NDS-03, one of Afghanistan's elite counterterrorism units that operated with direct support from American intelligence and military services. Lakanwal was, in other words, a CIA asset and a partner of the U.S. government in Afghanistan.
The timeline also complicates Trump's narrative. Lakanwal arrived in the United States in 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome, a humanitarian evacuation program. He applied for asylum during the Biden administration, but his asylum was approved in April 2025—under Trump's current administration. Trump's claim that these people "entered without being investigated" contradicts the inspector general's own documented findings that the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI conducted exhaustive investigations of the Afghan nationals brought to the country.
This exchange fits into a broader pattern. Days earlier, Trump had called Bloomberg correspondent Catherine Lucey "piggy" and told her to be quiet when she tried to ask about newly released emails involving Jeffrey Epstein. When ABC's Mary Bruce asked Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman about his alleged role in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi—a death that international investigations have linked to the Saudi government—Trump accused her of being a terrible journalist and of embarrassing his guest. He then threatened to revoke ABC's broadcast license, claiming the network's news was false and wrong.
These are not isolated moments of irritation. Trump has made similar threats before, in September, when he pressured CBS not to renew Stephen Colbert's contract and ABC not to renew Jimmy Kimmel's. The pattern suggests a deliberate strategy: when journalists ask difficult questions, especially female journalists, Trump responds with personal insults and threats to media licenses rather than engaging with the substance of what they're asking. The questions themselves—about vetting procedures, about a foreign leader's alleged involvement in murder, about emails from a convicted sex offender—are the kinds of questions journalists are supposed to ask. But Trump treats them as provocations deserving punishment.
What's at stake is not just the dignity of individual reporters, though that matters. It's the basic function of a free press to hold power accountable. When a president can threaten to revoke broadcast licenses because he dislikes the questions he's being asked, the entire system of checks and balances weakens. The journalists asking these questions are doing their job. Trump's response suggests he believes that job should not exist.
Citas Notables
Are you stupid? You're a stupid person... they arrived on planes, along with thousands of other people who shouldn't be here.— Donald Trump, to CBS correspondent Nancy Cordes
I think ABC's news is false and wrong. I think they should have their license revoked.— Donald Trump, on ABC News
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why did Trump focus on attacking the journalist rather than answering her question about the vetting?
Because the facts didn't support his argument. The inspector general had already documented that the vetting was thorough. Rather than confront that, he attacked her credibility instead.
But the suspect was actually a CIA asset, right? Doesn't that complicate the whole narrative?
Completely. Lakanwal served in an elite Afghan counterterrorism unit with direct American support. He wasn't some random person who slipped through. He was someone the U.S. government had worked with and trusted.
And his asylum was approved under Trump, not Biden?
Yes. He applied during Biden's term, but the approval came in April 2025, months into Trump's current administration. Trump is blaming the previous president for a decision his own administration made.
Is this the first time Trump has insulted female journalists this way?
No. He called another reporter "piggy" just days before this. And he's threatened to revoke broadcast licenses multiple times when journalists ask questions he doesn't like.
What's the real danger here?
When a president can threaten to take away a network's license because he dislikes their questions, the press can't function. Journalists become afraid to ask hard questions. That's when accountability disappears.
So this isn't really about one shooting or one question?
It's about whether journalists can do their job without fear of retaliation from the person they're supposed to be checking.