Trump walks out. Again.

He has done this so often and sometimes so clearly out of mere boorishness that he's an illustration of The Boy Who Cried Wolf.

But this that happened Monday (yesterday) began with a bit of journalistic bear-baiting.

Not many accounts of Monday's clash even give enough detail for the reader to fairly judge, though the video clips on the cable networks and on the same page as this AP account suffice, I think.

To sum up, in my judgement his walkout was not boorish but unfortunate and unskillful, but the journo's initial question and her testy reply to his response attacking China were both boorish.

Jiang asked Trump why he was putting so much emphasis on the amount of coronavirus tests that have been conducted in the United States.

She prefaced this question with a reminder the president has said we are doing more testing than any other country, to which he said "Yes."

Then she went on as quoted right here.

“Why does that matter?” Jiang asked. “Why is this a global competition to you if everyday Americans are still losing their lives and we’re still seeing more cases every day?”

The question is not entirely out of bounds but her tone was hectoring, berating, even blaming.

A little too close to asking "Sir, why are you such an asshole?"

He was not immediately angry but seems to have become angry as he replied.

The anger comes through when he attacks China.

Trump replied that “they’re losing their lives everywhere in the world. And maybe that’s a question you should ask China. Don’t ask me. Ask China that question.”

He has been doing his best to direct blame for the virus, its harms, and any harms arising from his response to it entirely onto China, anyway, but it is possible after all that her Asian appearance made that riposte come all the more easily to mind.

She perhaps thought so, and perhaps her toes are sore, too.

She challenged him with a reply that was as good as an accusation of racism, a reply the AP story helpfully explains with a bit of biographical detail.

“Sir, why are you saying that to me, specifically?” Jiang asked. 

Jiang, who has worked for CBS News since 2015, was born in Xiamen, China, and emigrated to the United States with her family at age 2.

He became more angry and impatient at that.

The anger of the baited bear then continued in his responses to everything said by the next journo, and he soon stalked out.

Trump said he would say that to “anyone who asks a nasty question.”

“It’s not a nasty question,” Jiang said. “Why does that matter?”

Trump again asked for another question, then said, “Nah, that’s OK” and waved off CNN’s Collins when she approached the microphone.

“You pointed to me,” Collins said.

The president said, “I pointed to you and you didn’t respond.” 

Collins said she was giving Jiang the time to finish her questioning.

“Can I ask a question?” Collins said.

With that, Trump called an end to the news conference, held in the White House Rose Garden, and walked away.