An Indian-origin journalist, Shirish Date, stumped US President Donald Trump at a press briefing by asking him a loaded question: whether he "regretted all the lying he had done".

A loaded question is a rhetorical inquiry that implies guilt on the part of the person answering, irrespective of what the answer would be.

At the press conference, Date, who works at the Huffington Post as the White House correspondent, asked Trump: "Mr. President, after three and a half years do you regret at all, all the lying you've done to the American people?".

The president's response appeared to be that he had not heard the question: "All the what", he asked.

Date followed up with "All the lying, all the dishonesty... You have done."

Following this, Trump ignored his question and moved on to other questions.

Washington-based Date has been in journalism for at least about 25 years, as can be seen on his LinkedIn profile, having previously worked with US publications such as NPR and AP. He has a bachelors in political science from Stanford University, and has also written a book, Final Orbit.

Date later tweeted saying he had been wanting to ask Trump that question "for five years". Date also tweeted a link to a 6,500-word article written by him and published in January 2020, titled 'The Ministry of Untruth'.

For five years I've been wanting to ask him that.

— S.V. Dáte (@svdate) August 13, 2020

While Date's question received support from various Trump opponents, others said the opinionated question did not behove a senior journalist.

First Published:Aug 14, 2020 1:17 PM IST