‘I Hate That!’ Maggie Haberman Unloads When Asked About ‘Trump Whisperer’ Nickname

New York Times correspondent and CNN analyst Maggie Haberman unloaded when asked about the “Trump Whisperer” nickname, saying she “hates” the idea she can “manipulate” ex-President Donald Trump.

Haberman’s reporting and analysis are significant because she is rightly considered an expert on Trump with deep experience reporting on the subject and a network of Trumpworld sources that give her up-to-the-minute insights. Not coincidentally, Trump is known to pore over Haberman’s reporting, all of which makes her a uniquely influential figure in Trumpworld.

It has also earned her the nickname she hates — which is more a reflection of the space Trump rents to her for free than anything else, but which is also used pejoratively by detractors.

Haberman was a guest on this week’s edition of The Run-Up podcast, hosted by New York Times national politics reporter Astead Herndon.

ASTEAD HERNDON: You know, you’ve been like informally given “Trump Whisperer” nickname. Do you like that?

MAGGIE HABERMAN: No, I hate that!

ASTEAD HERNDON: I would imagine you hate that!

MAGGIE HABERMAN: Yeah, I hate it, I’ve always hated it. It makes me–.

ASTEAD HERNDON: Can you tell me why you hate it?

MAGGIE HABERMAN: Yes, because it’s not true. It is, one, because it confers a level of wrong-handed intimacy that does not exist. And I think that, you know, having covered someone and understanding them is not the same as, you know, sort of mentally manipulating them, which is what that moniker implies.

ASTEAD HERNDON: Yeah. Yeah. But we don’t love the psychodrama of it all. You’re just, you’re reporting it.

MAGGIE HABERMAN: Correct. And I very much appreciate you asking me that!

It’s not the first time Haberman has pushed back on the notion that she has any kind of “relationship” with Trump beyond that of a reporter and a source — but even she would agree Trump is no ordinary source.

Watch above via The Run-Up podcast.