Trump called New York Times journalist “Loaded Up with Bedbugs” in his Tweet

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The U.S President Donald Trump has outraged a New York Times columnist who quit Twitter after being called a “bedbug”. He denied claims the same blood-sucking insects have infested his luxury Florida golf resort. Trump said his frequent critic Bret Stephens was a loser who was loaded up with bedbugs. But he insisted his Doral golf resort was clear of the nuisance insect, in spite of the reports of a severe infestation at villas where Trump hopes to host next year’s G7 summit. Trump Organization reportedly settled a lawsuit with a guest in 2017 who claimed he awoke in one of Doral’s rooms the previous year to find himself covered in bites. Twitter rant started late on Tuesday and resumed on Wednesday morning.

Trump made no reference to the legal action and falsely claimed the radical left had made up the Doral bed-bugs story. Trump later suggested that lightweight journalist Bret Stephens had infested his newspaper’s offices with bedbugs. He sarcastically called the columnist a tough guy for deactivating his Twitter after being ridiculed over his reaction to a joke at his expense. David Karpf is a professor of media and public affairs at George Washington University. He had poked fun at Stephens who has faced criticism for his views on climate change, rape, and race. He wrote, “The bedbugs are a metaphor. The bedbugs are Bret Stephens”.

The tweet, which Stephens wasn’t tagged in and initially received little attention, prompted the Times columnist to send an angry email to the professor and his university’s provost. He invited the academic in the email to come to his house to meet his wife and children and call him a bed-bug to his face. Karpf also shared the message on Twitter. It triggered a deluge of ridicule which prompted Stephens to abandon the social media platform. Trump also joined in the mockery on Wednesday morning. He tweeted, “He is now quitting Twitter after being called a ‘bedbug.’ Tough guy”! Trump also took aim at his Republican rivals in the 2020 presidential race.