Axios on HBO's Jonathan Swan is being lavished with praise over his Trump interview two years after he was widely criticized for another interview with the president

Variety

Swan's new interview with President Trump for his HBO series is, as Esquire's Charles P. Pierce calls it, "Frost/Nixon mixed with Spinal Tap." The interview has also resulted in HBO's Veep trending. Swan is being praised for using facts to press Trump on his handling of the coronavirus, which has been unusual. "Swan has not always been a media darling," says Brian Steinberg." In 2018, he was pilloried by the press for an interview with Trump that was one of the earliest segments show on Axios’ HBO program, which launched that same year. In an interview with Trump at the time, Swan prompted the president to confirm he wanted to end automatic citizenship for immigrant children not born in the U.S. A video clip showed the journalist smiling about nabbing the scoop, and prompted several rounds of criticism about his reporting style – and even prompted him to apologize to colleagues."