Shane Gillis mocks Trump’s ‘piggy’ insult hurled at former Philly Daily News reporter
Gillis said Trump "seems a little slower than usual" but doesn't appear to be declining as fast as former President Joe Biden.
President Donald Trump may no longer be a fan of Shane Gillis after listening to the comedian’s most-recent podcast.
Gillis, a Mechanicsburg, Pa., native, joked about the possibility 79-year-old Trump is beginning to show signs of mental decline on the most-recent episode of Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast, which he co-hosts with fellow comedian Matt McCuster.
Last week, Trump lashed out at Bloomberg White House correspondent and former Philadelphia Daily News reporter Catherine Lucey after she pressed him for information about files related to Jeffrey Epstein.
“Quiet, quiet, piggy,” an angry Trump shot back, an insult Gillis jokingly referenced while interrupting guest Nate Marshall.
“Do you think he’s getting dementia?” McCuster asked Gillis.
“I don’t know,” Gillis responded. “I don’t think … he just seems a little slower than usual.”
“He’s definitely not at Biden brains yet, but he’s circling the drain,” Gillis added, a reference to the perceived decline of former President Joe Biden, who ended his reelection campaign following his poor performance during a debate against Trump.
While Gillis expressed some sympathy for Lucey, he also joked about whether she deserved to be corrected by Trump and how awkward the plane flight must have been following the exchange.
“Think if you were next to her and hated her,” Gillis said.
Watch (caution: strong language):
Lucey, who has not spoken publicly about the matter, spent 12 years as a reporter at the Philadelphia Daily News covering everything from police corruption to local news. She left in 2012 and spent time reporting for the Associated Press and the Wall Street Journal before joining Bloomberg in March.
“Our White House journalists perform a vital public service, asking questions without fear or favor,” a Bloomberg News spokesperson told the Guardian. “We remain focused on reporting issues of public interest fairly and accurately.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended Trump’s insult of Lucey, telling reporters Thursday the president “calls out fake news when he sees it and gets frustrated with reporters who spread false information.”
There’s no indication Lucey was spreading false information while asking Trump about the Epstein files.
After being fired by Saturday Night Live in 2019, Gillis has risen to fame in part thanks to his unflattering yet sympathetic portrayal of Trump. Gillis has amassed a huge audience of MAGA fans, including the president himself.
Gillis, an Eagles fan, met with Trump at the Super Bowl in New Orleans alongside country music star Zach Bryan.
“Well, he’s a very good … I mean, on our side, right?” Trump later said in an interview with the Spector editor Ben Domenech, with the president adding he was a fan of Gillis and likes “everybody that’s on my side.”
Gillis recalled the meeting during an episode of his podcast, describing the room as “intense” thanks to the heavy presence of Secret Service agents.
“I finally had the moment — quick handshake," Gillis said, though adding that Trump “has no idea who I am.”
Joe Rogan and Theo Von not-so-quietly cooling their support of Trump
Gillis is just the latest comedian within the so-called “manosphere” to begin to peel back their support of Trump.
Joe Rogan, host of the popular The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, mocked Trump over his handling of the Epstein files.
“I heard ‘there’s no files,’ I heard ‘it’s a hoax,’ ” Rogan said on the most-recent episode of his podcast. “And then all of a sudden, he’s going to release the files. Well, I thought there was not files.”
Rogan famously endorsed and interviewed Trump ahead of the 2024 election, with the episode reportedly drawing over 40 million listeners. He also attended Trump’s inauguration but recently has been criticizing the president over everything from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and mass deportations to his continued lies about the 2020 election.
“I feel like if you say that, you’ve got to have some, like, really good evidence that you could give out,” Rogan said on his podcast earlier this month about the 2020 election. “Either you don’t have any evidence that they stole the election, or you have evidence and you’re not telling me. Why would you not tell me? Why would you not tell me?”
Theo Von, host of the This Past Weekend podcast, also interviewed Trump and attended his inauguration, but called out his administration after the Department of Homeland Security took a joke out-of-context and used it in a pro-deportation social media video that was later deleted.
“My father immigrated here from Nicaragua. One of my prized possessions is I have his immigration papers from when he came here. I have them in a frame,” Von said on his podcast last month.