BBC journalist attacked by Trump supporter
A BBC cameraman was attacked by a Donald Trump supporter after the US President whipped a crowd into a frenzy against the media.
Ron Skeans was filming Mr Trump’s rally in El Paso, Texas, when a man in a ‘Make America Great Again’ hat launched at him.
According to Gary O’Donoghue, the BBC’s Washington correspondent, the man climbed onto a platform used by reporters and pushed the camera into his colleague. He then continued to push Mr Skeans, until security officers intervened.
Moments earlier, President Trump had been pointing at jour- nalists and jeered ‘fake news’. Mr Trump told the crowd that the media had ‘gone down a long way’ and that it ‘refuses to acknowledge’ his achievements.
Yesterday, Mr O’Donoghue told the Today programme: ‘It was an incredibly violent attack. Fortunately our cameraman is fine, he is made of stern stuff.’
Mr O’Donoghue posted camera footage on Twitter, with the caption: ‘This is the shameful moment Ron Skeans was attacked – after the President goaded the crowd over supposed media bias.’
After the supporter was removed by security, Mr Trump intervened, asking the journalists if they were ‘alright’ and giving the thumbs up.
A BBC spokesman said the attack was ‘unacceptable’.
Following the incident, the corporation aired an interview with Venezuela’s embattled president Nicolas Maduro in which he claimed there was no humanitarian crisis or hunger problems in his country. Unchallenged, he accused Mr Trump and a ‘gang of extremists’ of wanting to invade. ‘They are warmongering in order to take over Venezuela,’ Mr Maduro said.
Most Western governments recognise opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim leader.