You never do

Trump earlier today:

Here is Trump calling on ABC News’s Cecilia Vega for the first question of the news conference:

Trump: “She’s shocked that I picked her. She’s in a state of shock.

Vega: “I’m not. Thank you, Mr. President.”

Trump: “That’s okay, I know you’re not thinking. You never do.”

Vega: “I’m sorry?

Trump: “No, go ahead.”

It seems likely Trump heard her say “I’m not thinking,” instead of “Thank you,” hence his reply. Still, there are two things about this exchange that are disturbing, although not out of character for Trump:

First, his attack on Vega came out of the blue. Vega hadn’t yet asked a question, so Trump can’t blame his derision on something she had just asked. (Not that that would be normal behavior for a president, either.)

No, it wouldn’t. It would be normal for a pissy, obnoxious junior high school student. For a president? It’s a million miles from normal. He has what is probably the biggest platform in the world, and he has no qualms about using it to insult people who don’t have that kind of influence.

Second, the attack came across as gender-driven. When Trump wants to attack women, he often resorts to stereotypes, reducing women to their looks or their intellect (or supposed lack of it) in many instances. In summer 2017, he attacked MSNBC anchor Mika Brzezinski by alleging that she had a “facelift.” In his very first presidential debate, Trump pushed back on host Megyn Kelly for questioning him about his treatment of women by saying that “she had blood coming out of her wherever.” He has called NBC News’s Katy Tur “little Katy” and New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd “crazy.”

And don’t forget Maxine Waters, whom he persists in calling “very low IQ” and just plain “stupid” from his unrivaled platform.

Old news, but never normal.

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