What if your father talked about women the way Trump does?

Aboard Air Force One, Bloomberg reporter Catherine Lucey asked President Donald Trump about being in the Epstein emails. Trump responded, “Quiet, quiet piggy.” The president also wagged his finger at her to give verbal backup to his insult.

Why does Trump’s insult of a female reporter not register in the evangelical male world as a problem?

The White House on Tuesday defended Trump’s insult with a lame smoke screen: “This reporter behaved in an inappropriate and unprofessional way toward her colleagues on the plane,” an official said. “If you’re going to give it, you have to be able to take.”

How could any other leader get away with this kind of abusive and insulting accusation without facing consequences? After 10 years of Trump’s insulting rhetoric, I am convinced MAGA evangelical Trump supporters are undisturbed by Trump’s language. They have barely flinched at his constant use of profanity and his racist and sexist remarks. They refuse to acknowledge his transgressions against women.

Trump’s understanding of women always has featured a perverse sexual tint. His remarks are about physical attributes, sexual parts and often are perverse. For Trump, physical attraction seems to be more important than a person’s work experience or educational background.

Here’s a review of some of Trump’s remarks about the physical appearance of women:

• On Bette Midler: “@BetteMidler talks about my hair but I’m not allowed to talk about her ugly face or body — so I won’t. Is this a double standard?” (2012)
• On Arianna Huffington: “Unattractive both inside and out. I fully understand why her former husband left her for a man — he made a good decision.” (2012)
• On Rosie O’Donnell: “We’re all a little chubby but Rosie’s just worse than most of us. But it’s not the chubbiness — Rosie is a very unattractive person, both inside and out.” (2006)
• On Carly Fiorina: “Look at that face. Would anybody vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?” (2015)
• On Megyn Kelly: “She gets out and she starts asking me all sorts of ridiculous questions. You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her … wherever.” (2015)
• On Kim Kardashian: Asked if her butt is big: “Well, absolutely. It’s record-setting. In the old days, they’d say she has a bad body.” ( 2014)
• On his daughter Ivanka Trump: When asked if Ivanka, then 24, had breast implants: “She’s actually always been very voluptuous.” (2006) “She does have a very nice figure … if (she) weren’t my daughter, perhaps I’d be dating her.” ( 2004)
• On his wife Melania Trump: When asked if he would stay with her if she was disfigured in a car crash: “How do the breasts look?” (2005)
• On Paris Hilton: “Now, somebody who a lot of people don’t give credit to but in actuality is really beautiful is Paris Hilton. I’ve known Paris Hilton from the time she’s 12, her parents are friends of mine, and the first time I saw her she walked into the room and I said, ‘Who the hell is that?'” (2003)
• On Princess Diana: Three weeks after her death, Trump was asked if he could have “nailed” Princess Diana: “I think I could have.” (1997)
• On his daughter Tiffany Trump: “Well, I think that she’s got a lot of Marla. She’s a really beautiful baby, and she’s got Marla’s legs.” Motioning to his chest, Trump added: “We don’t know whether she’s got this part yet, but time will tell.” (1994)
• On a female contestant on The Apprentice: “That must be a pretty picture, you dropping to your knees.” (2013)

Trump reserves special animus for women who challenge him.

On Tuesday, while hosting Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office, Trump raged at ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce, who had the audacity to ask about the crown prince’s role in the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. Bruce also asked about the Trump family’s business dealings in Saudi Arabia.

With cameras rolling, Trump called Bruce “a terrible person and a terrible reporter” and called for her network to lose its license.

“It’s not the question that I mind. It’s your attitude. I think you are a terrible reporter. It’s the way you ask these questions. You start off with a man who is highly respected, asking him a horrible, insubordinate and just a terrible question. You could even ask that same exact question nicely.”

What is so obviously uncouth and dehumanizing to most people fails to register with MAGA evangelicals. Trump has no filters. He lacks any sense of good manners, decorum and respect. His “bad boy” reputation has gained him maximum support from white evangelical males. They don’t care about how Trump treats women. In fact, I believe they like it.

Why? Because being able to talk and act in these atrocious ways and not be judged or held accountable is a sign of strength to MAGA males. It undergirds pre-existing evangelical attitudes toward women. His tough guy persona fuels the fantasy of male supremacy.

Trump’s version of the treatment of women has built on evangelical understandings, but his version has extended distinct rhetorical markers that include sexist locker room talk, a perverse sexual tint and a branding of women as objects — a dehumanizing tactic.

Yet the most powerful man in the world remains unaccountable as the male monopoly train keeps rolling along and retains the full support of a movement now seemingly bereft of its own ethical standards, evangelicals.

 

Rodney W. Kennedy is a pastor and writer in New York state. He is the author of 11 books, including his latest, Dancing with Metaphors in the Pulpit.

 

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