Trump attacks Gillibrand in tweet critics say is sexually suggestive and demeaning
The tweet resulted in a swift and immediate backlash
Adapted from a story by The Washington Post’s Ashley Parker
President Trump attacked Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) in a sexually suggestive tweet, implying the senator would do just about anything for money.
The tweet resulted in a swift and immediate backlash.
The tweet came as Trump is already facing negative publicity from renewed allegations from three women who had previously accused him of sexual harassment.
The backlash and criticism was near instantaneous, with Gillibrand replying directly to Trump on Twitter.
At a news conference later on an unrelated issue, Gillibrand called Trump’s tweet “a sexist smear attempting to silence my voice.”
“I will not be silent on this issue, neither will women who stood up to the president yesterday and neither will the millions of women who have been marching since the Women’s March to stand up against policies they do not agree with,” she added.
Gillibrand once again called on GOP congressional leaders to launch investigations into the allegations made by women against Trump, saying, “It’s the right thing to do and these allegations should be investigated, they should be investigated thoroughly. That is the right thing to do and I’m urging them to do that — as should their constituents.”
Asked about her interactions with the president, Gillibrand told reporters that Trump was “just a supporter — a supporter of my first campaign.”
Several female senators also rallied around Gillibrand, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who pointedly asked Trump on Twitter if he were trying to “bully, intimidate and slut-shame” Gillibrand.
Gretchen Carlson, the former Fox News personality whose lawsuit against Roger Ailes for sexual harassment led to the resignation of the late network chairman, also weighed in with a duo of tweets defending Gillibrand.
“What do u mean @SenGillibrand would ‘do anything’ for campaign contributions? By the way she isn’t a lightweight,” she wrote. In a second tweet, Carlson continued: “Sexual harassment is apolitical. Women will not be silenced no matter what party they are in. Period.”
Trump offered no evidence to support his wink-and-nod claim that Gillibrand had gone to him “begging” for campaign donations “and would do anything for them.”
According to Open Secrets, a nonprofit website that tracks campaign contributions, since 1996, Trump has donated $8,900 to Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and $5,850 to Gillibrand.
Gillibrand met with Trump once in 2010, the Gillibrand aide said, and Trump’s oldest daughter, Ivanka, who has tried to cast herself as a champion of women, attended the meeting,
On Monday, Gillibrand, a leading voice in Congress for combating sexual assault in the military, became the fifth Democratic senator to call on Trump to step down because of the allegations of sexual misconduct against him — accusations the president has denied and the White House dismissed again on Monday.
“President Trump has committed assault, according to these women, and those are very credible allegations of misconduct and criminal activity, and he should be fully investigated and he should resign,” Gillibrand said on CNN. “These allegations are credible; they are numerous. I’ve heard these women’s testimony, and many of them are heartbreaking.”
She joined Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in calling for Trump’s resignation.
Trump has not commented on the male senators’ demand that he resign.
Gillibrand, New York’s junior senator and a rising political star, is widely considered a likely 2020 presidential candidate against Trump, and the president’s Twitter assault Tuesday offered an early glimpse of just how vicious the next race for the White House could become.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment about why the president sent the tweet, or what exactly he was insinuating.
