The left would rave about how he had put an audacious journalist in her place.

and QFT!
Journalists have been calling Trump Hitler, Nazi, and Fascist for a decade. Journalists have been lying about and misrepresenting things Trump said and did for a decade. Journalists have been sneering at Trump for a decade. In the context of that decade of "journalists' lies and contempt, the context of Trump's first term and "journalists' lies and contempt, and the context of Trump's current term and "journalists' lies and contempt, how exactly does
ANY "journalist"
deserve even minimal respect from Trump?