Trump Threatens ABC’s Jon Karl to His Face Amid Grilling on ‘Hate Speech’ Crackdown

President Donald Trump openly threatened ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl when Karl grilled him about the threatened crackdown on so-called “hate speech” after the killing of activist Charlie Kirk.

Trump Attorney General Pam Bondi has drawn criticism for threatening to go after people over what she described as “hate speech” — including those cheering Kirk’s assassination.

On Tuesday morning, Trump took questions from reporters as he boarded Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House to depart for London, England.

When Karl asked about criticism of the crackdown, Trump launched into a rant threatening to go after Karl, and referencing the lawsuit he settled with ABC this year:

JONATHAN KARL: And what do you make Pam Bondi saying she’s going to go after hate speech? Is that, I mean, a lot of people, a lot of your allies say hate speech is free speech.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: She’d probably go after people like you! Because you treat me so unfairly! It’s hate! You have a lot of hate in your heart!

JONATHAN KARL: Would that be appropriate?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Maybe they’ll come after ABC. Well, ABC paid me 16 million dollars recently for a form of hate speech, right? Your company paid me $16 million for a form of hate speech, so maybe they’ll have to go after you.

Look, we want everything to be fair. It hasn’t been fair. And the radical left has done tremendous damage to the country, but we’re fixing it.

We have right now the hottest country anywhere in the world. And remember, one year ago, our country was dead. And now Washington D.C. Is fixed, and I fix it.

The mayor was fine. The mayor, the mayor was just fine, okay? The mayor had the sick city for many years. She’s been mayor for many years.

The one that fixed it was me and my people, and it is so safe. You should take your beautiful wife tonight and have dinner down there.

You won’t be shot, you won’t get accosted, you won’t even be looked at incorrectly by anybody.

Washington, D.C. Is safe, now we’re going to Memphis where it’s pretty rough, to put it mildly. And then we’re gonna have to go. A friend of mine who is a big railroader.

Trump rambled about railroads and Chicago for a full two minutes more.

Watch above via CNN.