President Donald Trump’s vile sexism attacking MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski yesterday has raised questions about just how much the Republican party is willing to let Trump get away with and about Trump’s current state of mind.
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Gain company-wide access to our premium content including our monthly webinars, Meeting in a Box, career advice, best practices, and video interviews with top executives.MembershipsAlready a member? Sign in.The president cannot stop his sexist Twitter habit, describing television host Mika Brzezinski as “low I.Q. Crazy Mika” and “bleeding badly from a face-lift.”
Trump described Brzezinski on Twitter as “low I.Q. Crazy Mika” and “bleeding badly from a face-lift.” According to deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump had to respond to the “outrageous attacks” against him because he refused to be “bullied.”
But on Friday, Brzezinski and her fianc Joe Scarborough responded in a Washington Post column titled “Donald Trump is not well”:
“President Trump launched personal attacks against us Thursday, but our concerns about his unmoored behavior go far beyond the personal. America’s leaders and allies are asking themselves yet again whether this man is fit to be president. We have our doubts, but we are both certain that the man is not mentally equipped to continue watching our show, ‘Morning Joe.'”
“More significant is Mr. Trump’s continued mistreatment of women,” the couple added. “It is disturbing that the president of the United States keeps up his unrelenting assault on women. From his menstruation musings aboutMegyn Kelly, to his fat-shaming treatment of a former Miss Universe, to his braggadocioclaims about grabbing women’s genitalia, the 45th president is setting the poorest of standards for our children.”
The couple also responded on air on Friday morning.
“He appears to have a fragile, impetuous childlike ego,” Brzezinski said.
Lawmakers were quick to comment as well. Media outlets widely reported the response of Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) before anyone else.
“Mr. President, your tweet was beneath the office and represents what is wrong with American politics, not the greatness of America,” he tweeted.
Numerous Democratic lawmakers also took to the president’s favorite platform to reject his latest sexist banter.
.@realDonaldTrump tweets about @morningmika and @JoeNBC are beneath dignity of the Presidency. Apologize. Then, please delete your account
Rep. Nydia Velazquez (@NydiaVelazquez) June 29, 2017
What Trump tweeted this morning is beneath the office he holds. He’s a #cyberbully that is setting a bad example for America’s children.
Linda T. Snchez (@RepLindaSanchez) June 29, 2017
.@realDonaldTrump‘s tweets about Mika Brzezinski are reproachful, sexist & show he doesn’t understand what it means to have free, open press
Senator Ben Cardin (@SenatorCardin) June 29, 2017
“Bleeding from the face,” another attack on women, really Enough is enough! Mr. President, you need to resign NOW!
Sheila Jackson Lee (@JacksonLeeTX18) June 29, 2017
Donald J. Trump: Cyberbully-In-Chief. https://t.co/CuipUgZulk
Rep. Lois Frankel (@RepLoisFrankel) June 29, 2017
Some also pointed out that once this blows over, the GOP will be quick to defend Trump again, and it will be business as usual.
“.@realDonaldTrump’s tweets this morning were sexist, vile, and unbecoming of an American leader. What else is new” questioned Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.).
Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee of California came down hard not only on Trump but the whole GOP in a series of tweets:
This isn’t just about Trump. We already knew he has no respect for women. It’s also about the GOP which continues to defend & support him.
Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) June 29, 2017
When leaders are bullies, it’s an implicit license to others sexual harassers, white supremacists, islamophobes to spread their hate.
Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) June 29, 2017
It’s up to everyone to reject this behavior. By not speaking out, my GOP colleagues are complicit in the sexism & bigotry incited by Trump.
Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) June 29, 2017
Nicolle Wallace, former communications director for the White House under former President George W. Bush and chief political analyst for MSNBC and NBC, said the only strategy for the White House is an apology.
“As a woman who was fortunate enough to work in the White House as a public servant, all of the women collecting paychecks from the U.S. taxpayers Dina Powell, Kellyanne Conway, Elaine Chow, Betsy DeVos you should all go on the record and condemn your boss’ comments, and you should work behind the scenes to educate him about just how offensive they are.
“As someone who once proudly called myself a Republican, the party will be permanently associated with misogyny if leaders don’t stand up and demand a retraction,” Wallace added.
She also questioned “how any woman who’s defending these comments how they plan to raise good men if the most powerful man in the world gets away with this”
Besides Graham, some Republicans did respond to reject the tweets.
Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska called the comments “not normal” and “beneath the dignity” of the president’s office. And Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-Kansas) said, “This is not okay. As a female in politics I am often criticized for my looks. We should be working to empower women.”
“I don’t believe the President’s tweets this morning Make America Great Again,” said Rep. Kevin Yonder, also a Republican from Kansas.
However, perhaps unsurprisingly, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) did not take a strong stance against the tweets, saying only at a press conference that it was not “an appropriate comment.”
“What we’re trying to do around here is improve the tone, the civility of the debate. And this obviously doesn’t help do that,” he said.
Ryan has been unable to condemn Trump’s hate even before Trump took office, allowing the now-president’s outlandish behavior to become the GOP’s new normal. Last summer, Ryan said he does not have time to address all of then candidate Trump’s racist social media messages. According to Ryan, “Candidates should know that” racist rhetoric has no place in a presidential campaign. He also speculated the blame should fall onTrump’s campaign staff rather than the candidate: “My understanding is that this was done by staff, not by he, himself.”
At the time Ryan was responding to an anti-Semitic tweet that appeared on Trump’s Twitter account.
Meanwhile, Trump’s sexism is nothing new. His recent comments echoed previous remarks he made about former Fox anchor Megyn Kelly when he said, “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.” His comment was widely interpreted as a reference to menstruation.
During his campaign he also made disparaging remarks about a fellow candidate’s wife Heidi Cruz, spouse of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). And also before Trump was elected, when audio of him saying it’s okay to grab women by the genitals, he brushed it off as “locker room talk.”
Women may be starting to listen, though, and the GOP will need the support of women on key issues. According to exit polls, women made up 53 percent of all voters, making them the majority. Women voted for then-Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, 54-41 percent.
However, Trump’s approval rating from women has been on the decline. In April, 38 percent of women overall approved of Trump. In a recent CBS News poll, however, only 27 percent of women approved of Trump. Only 23 percent of women ages 18-29 approve of Trump. Similarly, a Quinnipiac University poll found that only 33 percent of women approve of Trump.
