These Are The 5 Most Sexist Things Donald Trump Said In 2017, & Just, Ugh
President Donald Trump doesn't have what one would call an excellent track record when it comes to making offensive and lewd comments. Whether it be via Twitter or at one of his rallies, Trump more often than not can't help himself and goes on the attack, making offensive comments about marginalized groups of people. And this past year was no exception. Here are five sexist things that Trump said in 2017, because not even holding the highest office in the land can hold him back from his bad habits.
Despite promises, Trump hasn't exactly behaved in a "presidential" fashion since his swearing-in back on Jan. 20. When faced with criticism from political pundits and others involved in politics, he tends to punch back in retaliation, often taking inappropriate jabs at people based on their ethnicity, physical appearance, gender — basically anything he can easily target. And we've rounded up the most sexist things that we've heard from Trump in 2017 — so far. There are still five days left for him to shake this list up.
Trump's attack on Meryl Streep following her Golden Globes speech.
Meryl Streep made a splash at the 2017 Golden Globes on Jan. 8, when accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award for her "outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment." Without specifically mentioning Trump, she seemingly criticized him in large part, specifically when she said, "When the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose."
Trump apparently did not watch the awards, and woke up the following morning to news of the speech. He sent out a series of tweets attacking Streep, calling her "one of the most over-rated actresses" and a "Hillary flunky."
Over-rated? Meryl Streep? Trying to diminish a woman's importance and success (when everyone knows she's the most lauded living actress right now) just because you feel belittled is sexism 101.
When Trump "praised" French First Lady Brigitte Macron for her figure.
While visiting France on July 13 to meet with President Emmanuel Macron, Trump decided to focus on French First Lady Brigitte Macron's physique. He told her during their meeting, "You're in such good shape... beautiful." Presumably, he made the comments because of the first lady's age, as she is 24 years older than her husband.
Trump meets the French President and First Lady for the first time, and all he can focus on is Macron's figure? I don't blame her for trying to hide behind Melania.
When Trump attacked Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski.
Apparently in response to critical comments about Trump, the president took shots at MSNBC Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski. On June 29, Trump insisted that Brzezinski and her co-host and partner Joe Scarborough spent three nights at Mar-a-Lago and that Brzezinski was "bleeding badly from a face-lift," and wanted to "join him," to which he said no.
It's pretty telling that though Trump attacked two people in the tweets, it was only the woman whose physical appearance was insulted.
Insinuating that Senator Kirstin Gillibrand "begged" Trump for campaign contributions.
Following a slew of sexual misconduct allegations against politicians in Washington D.C. prompting several resignations, Democratic politicians, including New York's Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, called for Trump to resign because of the multiple sexual misconduct allegations against him (the official White House position is that the women who have accused the president are lying). And in response to the calls, Trump targeted Gillibrand and attacked her specifically rather than attacking Democrats as a whole. On Dec. 12, he tweeted out that she'd "do anything" to get campaign contributions while running for the Senate.
I mean, this comment is just wrong on so many levels. Not only is Trump choosing to single out just one of the multiple senators that called him to step down, he chose a woman and attacked her character. And he said that Gillibrand would do absolutely "anything" in order to get her campaign funded, which many people took as a sexual innuendo. Ugh.
And finally, when he openly hit on a reporter while on a diplomatic phone call.
Trump was on a diplomatic phone call with Irish leader Leo Varadkar on June 27 when he decided to single out a female Irish reporter. He told the prime minister about "all of this beautiful Irish press" in the oval office, and then called over Caitríona Perry, the White House Correspondent and U.S. bureau chief for Irish outlet RTÉ. He asked for her name, and then told Varadkar, "She has a nice smile on her face, so I bet she treats you well." Perry later tweeted a video of the incident, calling it "bizarre."
Not only does he single out Perry in a very uncomfortable fashion, saying that she treats her prime minister "well" is just overwhelmingly creepy.
So yeah, we can't believe that Trump is still allowed to get away with this kind of behavior. Hopefully he'll improve over time as he continues his tenure as President of the United States, and maybe 2018 will be the step up we're all hoping for. Sigh.