Maryland, My Maryland

Hey, you weren't supposed to read those! At the Free Bacon WATCH: David Trone Goes Nuclear on Reporter for Quoting His Own Tweets

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."

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