51视频

01/14/2019
By David Perry

It was hot in the packed room. No air conditioning. Helsinki doesn鈥檛 handle summer heat well, but the joint press conference last July went on.

Jonathan Lemire was already sweating. And then he raised the temperature.

Lemire, the Associated Press鈥檚 White House reporter, rose and asked President Donald Trump an airtight question heard 'round the world.

鈥淲ho do you believe?鈥� asked Lemire, wanting to know if Trump believed U.S. intelligence officials鈥� assertions that Russia interfered in the 2016 election or Russian President Vladimir Putin鈥檚 denials.聽 鈥淲ould you now, with the whole world watching, tell President Putin, would you denounce what happened in 2016 and would you warn him to never do it again?鈥�

He also asked Putin if the Russians had 鈥渁ny compromising material on President Trump or his family.鈥�

Both men bobbed and weaved with their answers, but Lemire knew he had done his job. He even got a cold stare from Putin.

鈥淚 sat down, and I knew things had changed for me,鈥� the Lowell native told a packed house in O鈥橪eary 222 recently.

For Lemire, his visit to campus was a sort of homecoming. His mother, Susan, is the retired coordinator of advisory services for the university's Centers for Learning and is a member of the curriculum committee for the 51视频 Learning in Retirement Association (LIRA).

His 鈥淥n the Road with #45鈥� was the opening talk in LIRA鈥檚 Winter Intersession series. His 鈥渧ery proud鈥� mom introduced him. (His father, Robert, a retired Chelmsford High School teacher, also sat in the second row.)聽

鈥淚 was so happy to have them there today,鈥� Lemire wrote in an e-mail following his appearance.

Growing up in Lowell, Lemire鈥檚 passions were history, writing and current events. The 39-year-old recalled his youth in Pawtucketville, when he was a rabid River Hawks hockey fan and a dedicated member of the hockey team鈥檚 youth fan club, the Young Stars.聽

His first writing gig was at age 6, when he wrote and illustrated his own He-Man book.

鈥淚 still have it at home,鈥� his mother said. 鈥淏ut I promised not to bring it.鈥�

Lemire described how the city of Lowell, rich in history and diversity, informed his writing and continues to shape the stories he tells.

He went to Central Catholic High School in Lawrence, where he excelled in track, setting several records. He earned a B.A. in history from Columbia University in 2001.

Lemire worked for the New York Daily News before joining the AP鈥檚 New York City bureau in 2013. In that job, he first covered businessman Donald Trump. (He offered this bit of Trump trivia: 鈥淭rump Tower on Fifth Avenue is listed at 68 stories tall. It is really 58 stories,鈥� he said. 鈥淗e just made it up because he thought it would look better as 68.鈥�)

Lemire said there has 鈥渘ever been a presidency like this.鈥�

Covering the president involves working at a 鈥渂reakneck pace, and it鈥檚 everything from exhausting to exhilarating,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut if you鈥檙e in this business, this is the brass ring.鈥�

As an 鈥渆nemy of the people,鈥� there鈥檚 no shortage of hate mail in his inbox, but he also gets grief from the left, so he figures he鈥檚 doing his job fairly.

Even Trump once called him a 鈥渟leazebag,鈥� after Lemire asked questions the president didn鈥檛 want to answer. 鈥淗e never particularly liked me,鈥� said Lemire of the president.

In 2016, Lemire and Jill Colvin split AP鈥檚 coverage of the presidential race. He had already been covering Trump鈥檚 early campaign from New York.

鈥淚n September and October, you could see it,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here was something there, something about the candidate that spoke to disenfranchised. The energy in the rooms was undeniable.鈥�

He called an AP colleague covering a Hilary Clinton rally in Florida one night and asked about the crowd.

鈥淧retty good,鈥� came the answer, 鈥渁bout 300 people.鈥�

Lemire, also in Florida, looked around. He saw a crowd of at least 15,000.

鈥淚 was one of the few on the Trump plane to predict he would win,鈥� he said.

He鈥檚 covered the president鈥檚 treks to Saudi Arabia, Israel, the Vatican, Europe and Asia. On this beat, things never get predictable.

鈥淣o matter how many times you covered him, he could still surprise you,鈥� said Lemire.

Since September 2017, Lemire has also been a commentator for MSNBC. He loves his seat in 鈥渢he front row of history,鈥� and takes it seriously.

鈥淚n an age of unprecedented disinformation and fake news and attacks on the media, that task has never been more important,鈥� he said.

Marie Sweeney 鈥�64, a former Lowell High School teacher and current board member at Community Teamwork, Inc., says LIRA talks like Lemire鈥檚 鈥渟how how the university is engaged with the community. The people who come to these may be retired but are still young enough to believe in lifelong learning. These are people who could command good money as speakers, and we see them for free at the university.鈥�

LIRA is a partnership with UML鈥檚 Office of Alumni Relations and Office of Community Relations. It offers college-level educational opportunities for the retired and semiretired, including the weekly series of speakers, running through Feb. 27 and covering topics ranging from climate change and labor history to book discussions. For information, visit or email lira@uml.edu.