Rep. David Trone put his finger in the face of a local reporter on Tuesday and accused him of being a Republican "shill" for covering the Maryland Democrat’s claims that the criminal justice system was "racist."
Trone, the Democratic frontrunner for Maryland’s open Senate seat, took to X on Sunday to tell constituents to "face a hard truth" that the "criminal justice system is systemically racist." At a campaign event on Tuesday, Trone told Fox 5 journalist Tom Fitzgerald he should be "ashamed" for reporting on the posts.
"You should be ashamed of the journalism you did yesterday," Trone said as he pointed his finger in Fitzgerald’s direction, footage of the exchange shows. "You took one line out of 20 and you should be ashamed of that type of journalism."
During the exchange, Trone’s aide tapped the congressman on the back, apparently prompting Trone to take a step back from the reporter.
"And shame on Fox," Trone continued. "Fox needs to step up and do real journalism, and you didn’t do it there. You were shilling for Larry Hogan. So keep shilling for Larry Hogan. And if you want to do that, feel free to shill."
Trone said his posts to X on Sunday were "very supportive of our police" and said Fitzgerald was "just making it up" before abruptly ending the interview.
Trone’s comments garnered criticism from his Democratic primary opponent Angela Alsobrooks, who said Marylanders deserve the right to police protection and that Trone has no experience in criminal justice matters.
The likely Republican nominee in Maryland’s Senate race, former Gov. Larry Hogan, said Trone’s social media posts "were terrible."
Trone’s exchange with Fitzgerald came just one week before Maryland’s primary election on May 14. Trone has poured over $57 million of his own money into his primary campaign, a record-breaking investment that hasn’t translated to the polls. Trone leads Alsobrooks by 44 percent to 31 percent in the latest Five Thirty Eight polling average, but a significant portion of Maryland Democrats remain undecided.
And Trone has weathered a series of bad headlines in the months leading up to next Tuesday’s contest.
In March, Trone used a niche racial slur that dates back to the early 1900s during a House Budget Committee hearing with Office of Budget and Management director Shalanda Young, a black woman. Trone said he attempted to use the word "bugaboo" during the hearing but mistakenly uttered "jigaboo" instead, which according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is an "insulting and contemptuous term for a black person."
Trone’s comment led several of his colleagues in the House to endorse Alsobrooks, also a black woman, who serves as Prince George’s county executive.
The Maryland Democrat has also faced backlash for using the phrase "training wheels" to attack Alsobrooks’s level of experience in a recent ad. Trone removed the phrase from the ad after former Democratic National Committee chair Donna Brazile said the comments were "not only disparaging and dismissive but also echoes tones of misogyny and racism."
Trone also faces scrutiny over his connections to Total Wine, his family’s $2.4 billion liquor retail chain. The Washington Free Beacon reported last week that Trone did not disclose his ownership stake in several Total Wine entities in his financial disclosures dating back to 2016.
The Trone campaign said the congressman did not have to disclose his ownership of the companies to the public because they were worthless to him.
Though Trone promised he would step away from Total Wine when he won his first term in the House in 2018, records reported by the Free Beacon show the Maryland Democrat has remained involved in the company, holding the roles of director, president, secretary, treasurer, manager, co-manager, and co-president across eight Total Wine entities.
Trone’s campaign refused to say if he planned to relinquish his positions with Total Wine if he wins his Senate election.
"We will not be providing a response from our campaign to these questions," Trone spokesman Nathaniel Philp told the Free Beacon on Monday.