When the president of the United States pointed angrily at a reporter and called her “piggy” last week, I wish she had gone full Muppet: “Who? Moi?”
Of course, Bloomberg White House reporter Catherine Lucey did nothing of the sort. She was a consummate professional and did not respond to President Trump’s gratuitous insult after she asked why he had not already released the Epstein files if he has nothing to hide. But Trump’s comment to her aboard Air Force One was so juvenile, so absurd and so beneath the dignity of his office that it seemed like he was parodying himself.
Except he wasn’t. This is exactly who he is.
Trump’s been publicly denigrating women for years. Especially journalists.
In 2011, he sent New York Times columnist Gail Collins a copy of her own column, in which she described him as a “financially embattled thousandaire.” He’d circled her picture and scrawled “The Face of a Dog!” across it.
In 2015, during his first debate with Republican presidential hopefuls, moderator Megyn Kelly, then of Fox News, opened by quoting some of the misogynistic insults he’d lobbed at women over the years, including “fat pigs,” “dogs,” “slobs” and “disgusting animals.”
“You once told a contestant on the ‘The Celebrity Apprentice’ it would be a pretty picture to see her on her knees. Does that sound to you like the temperament of a man we should elect as president?” Kelly asked. Trump sputtered, then issued a veiled threat: “I’ve been very nice to you, although I could probably maybe not be, based on the way you have treated me.”
The next day, as you may recall, Trump insinuated that Kelly had been on her period, with “blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.”
In 2016, Trump memorably called his Democratic presidential rival, Hillary Clinton, “such a nasty woman,” which became an instant badge of honor for progressive American women.
A few days after Piggygate, Trump welcomed Saudi Arabian dictator Mohammed bin Salman to the Oval Office and put on another sexist display as he lauded the crown prince’s human rights record and touted the administration’s deal selling the Saudis our most sophisticated fighter jets, and the Saudi’s vow to invest a trillion dollars in the U.S.
Did Trump really think the press corps would be so besotted by his dealmaking that they would fail to ask the prince about the grotesque 2018 murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, top of mind for any American journalist covering the visit?
Kudos to Mary Bruce, ABC News chief White House correspondent, for raising it, and for alluding to Saudi involvement in the attack that inflicted our country’s worst-ever incident of mass murder. (In August, a federal judge cleared the way for a lawsuit filed by 9/11 families against Saudi Arabia to proceed to trial.)
“Your royal highness,” said Bruce, “the U.S. intelligence concluded that you orchestrated the brutal murder of a journalist; 9/11 families are furious that you are here in the Oval Office. Why should Americans trust you?”
“You’re mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial,” Trump said of Khashoggi. “A lot of people didn’t like the gentleman you’re talking about. Whether you like him, or didn’t like him, things happen.” (Imagine if a Democratic elected official had been similarly dismissive about the murder of right-wing provocateur Charlie Kirk.)
But of course, Trump wasn’t finished. He also attacked Bruce personally, saying she’d asked a “horrible, insubordinate and just a terrible question.” Only a man who surrounds himself with boot-licking sycophants and sucks up to royalty would consider a journalist’s pointed question an insult. How dare a peon take on a prince?
“You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that,” Trump said. The prince, however, did not appear to be the least bit embarrassed. He denied responsibility for Khashoggi’s murder and dismemberment, and called it “a huge mistake.”
It is pathetic, and revealing, how Trump loses it when women challenge him.
He dismissed the writer E. Jean Carroll, who has prevailed in sexual abuse and defamation lawsuits against him, as a “nut job,” a “whack job,” a “liar,” a “fraud” and — as if this is the ultimate insult — “not my type.”
Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, until recently one of the president’s most fervent supporters, has been outspoken about Republican responsibility for skyrocketing Obamacare premiums, and was one of three Republican congresswomen to support releasing the Epstein files before the rest of the House, then the Senate came around last week.She is now a “traitor” in Trump’s view, an insult he tosses around with little regard for the death threats it inspires.
He did it again on Thursday, after six Democratic members of Congress, all of whom are either former military or intelligence officers, released a video reminding American soldiers that they are duty bound not to follow illegal orders.
Trump said the Congress members were guilty of “seditious behavior at the highest level” “punishable by death,” and reposted a Truth Social comment calling for them to be hanged.
I can understand Trump’s increasing fits of pique. He’s had a terrible few weeks: His party was trounced in the off-year elections, the Senate refused his demand to end the filibuster to bring a quick end to the government shutdown. After calling the demand for the Epstein files a Democratic “hoax,” he caved and signed the bill ordering the Justice Department to release them. The economy continues to falter, despite his lies to the contrary.
Expecting a thin-skinned man like Trump to be respectful to those who ply him with questions about his failures — especially when they are women — is a recipe for disappointment.
I didn’t think it was possible, but this time, Trump has hit a new low.
Bluesky: @rabcarian
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