Tag: sexist

Trump said Warren’s campaign failed because she’s ‘mean’ and lacks talent, and not because of sexism

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President Donald Trump on Friday said that Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s campaign did not fail because of sexism, but because she’s “mean” and lacks “talent.” 

“I think lack of talent was her problem. She had a tremendous lack of talent,” Trump told reporters as he signed an $8 billion coronavirus bill, before going on to say Warren was a good debater who “destroyed Mike Bloomberg…like it was nothing.”

“People don’t like her. She’s a very mean person. And people don’t like her. People don’t want that,” Trump added. 

Trump, who has put migrant children in cages, mocked a disabled reporter, said you have to treat women “like sh–t,” called for a ban on Muslims from the US, attacked Gold Star families, and criticized a widely-revered dead senator, went on to say that people like “a person like me, that’s not mean.”

Warren dropped out of the race on Thursday after coming up short in a series of voting contests, which included coming in third in the primary in her home state of Massachusetts. There was a brief moment last fall in which Warren was at the top of some national polls and looked like a potential frontrunner, but her campaign really lost momentum after coming in third in the Iowa caucuses and an abysmal result in the New Hampshire primary (she came away with no delegates). 

The Massachusetts senator garnered a lot of praise when she wiped the floor with Bloomberg in a recent presidential debate, but it did not translate into success with voters — particularly on Super Tuesday.

Many political pundits and commentators, as well as supporters of Warren, have said that sexism played a role in her campaign’s struggles. Warren ran a robust platform, exemplified by her slogan: “I’ve got a plan for that.” She was generally viewed as stronger than other candidates on specifics surrounding policy proposals and, as Trump said, a good debater. 

The same day Warren dropped out, the United Nations Development Programme released a new analysis that found 90% of people — both men and women — are biased against women. The study, which was conducted across 75 countries, also found about 50% of people think men make better political leaders than women. 

But as Insider politics reporter Kayla Epstein recently reported:

[Business Insider]

Trump makes fun of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford for not remembering the night of her alleged assault: ‘I only had one beer!’

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During a Mississippi rally for Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), President Donald Trump made fun of Brett Kavanaugh accuser Dr. Christine Blasey Ford for not remembering details about the night of her alleged assault 36 years ago.

“I had one beer!” the president said, mocking Ford’s insistence that she wasn’t as inebriated as Kavanaugh at the time of the alleged sexual assault.

He then proceeded to mock the woman’s back-and-forth questioning with prosecutor Rachel Mitchell, responding “I don’t remember” to questions about the time and location of the incident.

“I had one beer, that’s the only thing I remember,” Trump said, continuing to make fun of Ford. “A man’s life is in tatters. A man’s life is shattered.”

[Raw Story]

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‘A very scary time for young men in America’: Trump says boys fear being unfairly accused of sexual assault

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President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned that it is a “very scary time for young men in America” after his Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, was accused of sexual assault.

The president made the remarks to reporters as he was boarding Marine One.

Trump explained that he was sticking with the nominee because he had not seen enough evidence of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s sexual assault claims.

“My whole life, I’ve heard you’re innocent until proven guilty,” Trump said. “But now you’re guilty until proven innocent. That is a very, very difficult standard.”

“I say that it’s a very scary time for young men in America when you can be guilty of something that you may not be guilty of,” he continued. “This is a very difficult time. What’s happening here has much more to do than even the appointment of a Supreme Court justice. You can be somebody that was perfect your entire life and somebody could accuse you of something.”

[Raw Story]

Reality

Research from the National Sexual Violence Research Center proves the opposite.

“False allegations of sexual assaults are somewhere between 2 and 10 percent,” Cooper explained. “Yes, they happen, but they’re not the norm. Not to mention sexual assault is widely underreported, out of every 1,000 sexual assaults, only 310 are reported to the police, according to the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization, RAIN.”

Trump Insults ABC Reporter, Saying She ‘Never’ Thinks

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President Donald Trump insulted a female reporter for ABC News on Monday during a Rose Garden news conference, telling her that she “never” thinks even before she had a chance to ask her question.

As the reporter, Cecilia Vega, turned to retrieve a microphone to ask Trump a question, Trump joked “she’s shocked that I picked her. Like in a state of shock.”

Vega responded, “I’m not, thank you Mr. President.”

Trump appeared to misunderstand her. “That’s OK, I know you’re not thinking, you never do.”

“I’m sorry?” she responded.

“No, go ahead. Go ahead,” Trump said.

Vega tried to ask a question about the FBI investigation of sexual assault allegations against Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, but the president initially insisted she ask about trade. He returned to Vega later for a Kavanaugh question.

“A news conference means you get to ask whatever question you want to ask,” Vega tweeted later, adding the hashtag “#FirstAmendment.”

[Bloomberg]

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Trump Repeatedly Interrupts Female Reporter After She Questions Him About Message He’s Sending to Women

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During a rare solo press conference from New York City on Wednesday, President Donald Trump was asked by Sky News reporter Hannah Thomas-Peter about the message that it was sending women when he referred to the Kavanaugh accusations as a “con job.”

Trump responded by repeatedly interrupting the reporter and mansplaining the meaning of “con job.”

It all started when Trump first identified the female reporter as “the one that was nodding with every nice thing I said.”

She replied it was a habit of hers.

Then, the reporter asked this: “Are you at all concerned at the message that is being sent to the women who are watching this when you use language like ‘con job’ in relation to allegations of sexual assault?”

“That’s like probably the nicest phrase I’ve ever used. I mean, con job. it is. It’s a con job,” he said, seemingly dismissing her concerns and speaking over her. “You know, confidence. It’s a confidence job. but they — it’s a con job by the Democrats. they know it.”

The Sky News reporter then tried to ask, “What about the message that’s being sent to women who are watching?”

Trump interrupted her again.

“They did the same thing with the Russia investigation. They tried to convince people that I had something to do with Russia. There was no collusion, think of it,” he began before noting con job was “not a bad term.”

“Are you worried…” the reporter tried again, but Trump talked over her again.

Then, the president finally made mention of women, but only to say they are “so angry” by the accusations being made.

“I’ll tell you this. the people that have complained to me about it the most, about what’s happening, are women. women are very angry. you know, I got 52% with women. everyone said this couldn’t happen. 52% — women are so angry…Let her have her day in court. Let somebody else have a day in court. But the ones that I find — I mean, I have men that don’t like it but I have women that are incensed at what’s going on.”

[Mediaite]

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Sky News

Trump Snaps at Female Reporter Asking About His Own Accusers: ‘Please Sit Down!’

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President Donald Trump held a rare solo press conference on Wednesday as a series of scandals exploded around him, most threateningly the allegations of sexual misconduct against Brett Kavanaugh, his Supreme Court nominee.

The president was hammered by questions on the allegations against Kavanaugh, and one reporter even confronted Trump on his own accusers.

CBS News White House correspondent Weijia Jiang began her question: “How have your personal experiences of being accused by more than a dozen women of sexual misconduct —”

Trump cut her off, and launched into a diatribe that lasted more than two minutes.

“I’ve been accused. I’ve been accused. False accusations. Excuse me. I’ve been accused. I was accused by — I think it was four women. You can check with Sean Hannity. You can check with Fox, because they covered it very strongly.”

Jiang tried to finish her question, but Trump spoke over her.

“Excuse me. I was accused by four or five women who got paid a lot of money to make up stories about me. We caught them and the mainstream media refused to put it on television.”

“There were four women, and maybe more, I think the number is four or five. But one had a mortgage paid off her house, $52,000. Another one had other things happen.”

Trump continued to rail against his accusers, insisting he had “never met these people.” When he finally wrapped up, Jiang tried to ask her question: “If I could just actually ask my question, Mr. Trump. You didn’t let me ask my question.”

“You’ve been asking a question for ten minutes,” Trump fired back. “Please sit down. Go ahead. Go ahead.”

Jiang held onto the microphone and asked her question: “How did that impact your opinions on the allegations against –”

“It does impact my opinion,” Trump cut in. “You know why? Because I’ve had a lot of false charges made against me. I’m a very famous person. Unfortunately. I’ve been a famous person for a long time. But I’ve had a lot of false charges made against me. Really false charges. I know friends that have had false charges. People want fame, they want money, they want whatever.”

[Mediaite]

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Trump attacks second Kavanaugh accuser: ‘She admits that she was drunk’

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President Trump on Tuesday went after the second woman who has come forward to accuse Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, suggesting she lacks credibility in part because she was intoxicated during the alleged incident.

Deborah Ramirez alleges that Kavanaugh exposed himself and thrust his genitals in her face at a college party during their freshman year at Yale in the 1980s. She acknowledged in her account to The New Yorker that she had been drinking prior to the alleged incident, and had gaps in her memory of the event.

“The second accuser has nothing,” Trump told reporters during a meeting with the Colombian president at the U.N. General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.

“She thinks maybe it could have been him, maybe not. She admits that she was drunk. She admits that there are time lapses,” the president said.

Trump claimed that allegations from Ramirez and Christine Blasey Ford are part of a “con game” by Democrats against his Supreme Court nominee.

“I can tell you that false accusations of all types are made against a lot of people,” the president added. “This is a high-quality person and I certainly hope – it would be a horrible insult to our country if this doesn’t happen. And it would be a horrible horrible thing for future political people, judges… it cannot be allowed to happen.”

[The Hill]

Trump Mocks the #MeToo Movement During Montana Rally

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Donald Trump, whom more than a dozen women have accused of sexual misconduct, has made no secret of his distaste for the #MeToo movement, defending both longtime pal Roger Ailes and ex-Fox mega-host Bill O’Reilly against charges of sexual misconduct (Ailes he called a “very, very good person,” while of O’Reilly he said, “I don’t think Bill did anything wrong.”). But in February, the president made his position on #MeToo even more explicit: the day after defending former staff secretary Rob Porter, who resigned amid allegations of domestic abuse from two of his ex-wives, Trump tweeted that “lives are being shattered and destroyed” by “mere” allegations. “He says he’s innocent, and I think you have to remember that,” Trump said the day prior. “He said very strongly . . . that he’s innocent.” The comments inspired a wave of disquiet among those inclined to support women in speaking out about harassment and abuse. And on Thursday, the president revived his rhetoric during a bizarre rally in Montana ostensibly intended to stoke support for the state’s Republican Senate candidate.

Riffing on his nickname for Senator Elizabeth Warren, whose Native American heritage he has repeatedly questioned, Trump—who made no mention of the hasty same-day resignation of E.P.A. chief Scott Pruitt—told the crowd, “I want to apologize. Pocahontas, I apologize to you . . . to you I apologize. To the fake Pocahontas, I won’t apologize.”

He went on to suggest that if Warren won the 2020 Democratic primary, he would dare her to take an ancestry test during a televised debate. “We’ll take that little kit and say, we have to do it gently because we are in the #MeToo generation, so we have to be very gentle. And we will very gently take that kit, and we will slowly toss it” to Warren, “hoping it doesn’t hit her and injure her arm.” Trump added that he’d give $1 million to charity if the test “shows [Warren is] an Indian . . . I have a feeling,” he said, “she will say no.”

Nor did Trump confine himself to insulting a potential Democratic opponent—during the same speech, he also claimed that Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters had an I.Q. in the “mid-60s,” lobbed derogatory criticisms at journalists, and vouched for Russian President Vladimir Putin. After the rally, Warren fired back with a tweet, writing, “Hey, @realDonaldTrump: While you obsess over my genes, your Admin is conducting DNA tests on little kids because you ripped them from their mamas & you are too incompetent to reunite them in time to meet a court order. Maybe you should focus on fixing the lives you’re destroying.”

The president’s particular strain of misogyny has been on display for much of this week—earlier on Thursday, Trump told reporters that he doesn’t believe allegations that G.O.P. Rep. Jim Jordan knew about the sexual abuse of student athletes while he was a coach at Ohio State University. (Jordan himself has denied them.) “I don’t believe them at all,” Trump said of Jordan’s accusers, adding that he believes in Jordan’s innocence “100 percent”. Thursday also happened to be the day the White House officially hired Bill Shine, the former Fox News co-president who allegedly covered for Ailes for years. In making such statements, Trump seems to be indicating that no line of attack is off-limits—a tactic that successfully set him apart from a crowded Republican field in 2016.

He’s also setting a deeply toxic precedent for the 2020 presidential race—particularly if he faces off against another woman. And though this strategy is likely to appeal to his base, potentially deepening the gulf between people who believe women when they say they’ve been forced to endure sexual harassment and people who don’t, it is not without risk for Republicans. Not only could it further galvanize Democrats, but it could also alienate women voters who, according to a poll published on Friday, have a disproportionately negative view of the president: just 32 percent of women approve of his job performance, compared to 51 percent of men.

[Vanity Fair]

Trump Defends Rob Porter: ‘He … Says He’s Innocent’

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President Donald Trump on Friday praised former Staff Secretary Rob Porter, who left the White House Thursday amid a domestic abuse scandal involving allegations from two ex-wives.

“We wish him well, he worked very hard. We found out about it recently and I was surprised by it, but we certainly wish him well and it’s a tough time for him,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “He did a very good job when he was in the White House.”

Despite images handed over to media outlets from his first wife showing her with a black eye she says Porter gave her on their honeymoon in the early-2000s, the president said White House officials “hope he has a wonderful career and he will have a great career ahead of him.”

The president, breaking his silence on the matter, said he was “very sad” when he learned about the charges, which Chief of Staff John Kelly reportedly knew about months ago.

Porter also is “certainly … also very sad now,” Trump said.

The president again defended Porter near the end of his remarks about the former staffer.

“He also, as you probably know, says he’s innocent and I think you have to remember that,” said the president, who has faced sexual assault accusations from multiple women. “He said very strongly yesterday that he’s innocent so you have to talk to him about that, but we absolutely wish him well, he did a very good job when he was at the White House.”

On Thursday, Principal Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah announced Porter had left the White House staff for good. “His last day was yesterday,” Shah said. “I know he came in today to clean out his stuff.”

Shah called the assault allegations “serious and disturbing,” ramping up the White House’s reaction after defending Porter much of Wednesday.

“They’re upsetting,” Shah said.

He described the allegations as still being reviewed as part of an extensive background check process that Porter was still in the midst of when reports made the charges public this week.

Asked what caused the White House to change its tone on Porter, Shah replied the images of one of Porter’s ex-wives’ black eye were “upsetting.”

He declined to say whether Kelly knew about the allegations long before the reports were published.

Trump’s defense of the alleged wife abuser comes after he encouraged “lock her up” chants about 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton over her use of a personal server while secretary of state. He also has called on other political foes and some of those looking into potential collusion between his 2016 campaign and Russia to be the subject of federal probes and possible prosecution.

The president did not comment on the fate of his embattled chief of staff. Some women’s organizations, for instance, have called on Kelly to step down for reportedly knowing about the Porter allegations for months but keeping him on staff — even allowing him to become his right-hand man.

Kelly’s repeated defenses of Porter earlier this week and his allowing Communications Director Hope Hicks, Porter’s current girlfriend, to craft a number of Thursday statements about the matter has again made the chief of staff a lightning rod for Democrats. (He has caught their ire also over his hard-line comments about illegal immigrants.)

For instance, Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington called Kelly’s role in keeping Porter on as a White House staffer even after learning of the allegations “very, very disturbing.”

“Clearly, WH Chief of Staff John Kelly knew about Rob Porter’s history of abuse directly from FBI and chose to ignore it,” Jayapal tweeted Thursday morning. “#MeToo is as much about those who protect the abusers with their silence as the abusers themselves.”

[Roll Call]

Trump Tells Brigitte Macron: ‘You’re in Such Good Shape’

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First, they shared an awkward handshake. Then, President Donald Trump complimented Brigitte Macron’s “physical shape.”

“You’re in such good shape. She’s in such good physical shape. Beautiful,” Trump told the French President’s wife, who was standing next to first lady Melania Trump.

Earlier in the day, at the welcome ceremony in Paris, Trump and French first lady Brigitte Macron extended their hands to one another — fumbling to make contact for a handshake — before they embraced for a traditional kiss on the cheek. Afterward, they rejoined hands while they continued to talk.

It’s not the first awkward greeting between Trump and a Macron. In May, Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron shared a long, tense handshake during their first meeting in Brussels. The French leader later said his white-knuckled grip had a deeper meaning.

“My handshake with him, it’s not innocent,” Macron said. “It’s not the alpha and the omega of politics, but a moment of truth.”

Trump’s handshakes have become signature moments in his interactions with world leaders. While Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the White House in February, Trump shook his hand for 19 seconds, even patting it several times and pulling it closer. A month later, Trump apparently declined to shake German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s hand during an Oval Office meeting, though he shook it at other times in her visit to Washington.

[CNN]

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