You can tell Donald Trump watches a lot of Fox News, because he seems to think all cable news networks hire women contributors as if they’re trying to round out the cast of the Swedish version of Three's Company. At Saturday night’s Loser-Palooza XXIV-or-some-such (I was going to count exactly how many sore loser rallies Trump has held since sorely losing in 2020, but who cares, really?), Trump had the temerity to mention White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki. And when his eyeballs didn’t instantly melt out of his head like a pair of 99-cent Big Lots votive candles, I knew with metaphysical certitude there is no God. Because if She existed, She would never allow such calumny to stand.
At first, it almost seemed like Trump was complimenting Psaki. Well, complimenting her looks, anyway. Sort of. Which, given Psaki’s clear intellectual gifts and outsized talents, seems a bit like fixating on the brand of conditioner Marie Curie used. But women hear this kind of thing all the time. Or so I’m told.
At the rally—during which Trump claimed for the umpteenth time that he was named Michigan’s Man of the Year, even though the award doesn’t exist—Trump first claimed Psaki had been rebuked by the military for her supposed defamation of Trump’s beloved Space Force:
While complimenting her hair, Trump criticized Psaki for once joking about the nation's Space Force, a branch of the US military forces set up by Trump.
"The woman with the really beautiful red hair, she laughed. And she was hit so hard by the military because they knew I was right. The military understood I was right."
She has a name, Donald. We don’t refer to you as “the man with the red, pendulous baboon ass.” Well, sometimes we do, I suppose. But we don’t try to pretend we’ve forgotten your given name.
Oh, but Trump was just warming up.
"You know she's going to MSDNC," Trump said, using his derogatory nickname for the cable news network. "They need a redhead. They don't have a redhead over there, so they need a redhead."
Okay then!
While this seems like a backhanded compliment, coming from Trump it may actually be a full-throated endorsement. After all, this appears to be how he makes all of his hiring decisions.
In September 2016, when we still thought Trumpageddon was somehow avoidable, Mother Jones dug up a quote from 2007 in which Trump acknowledged hiring a female employee strictly because of her looks.
While campaigning for president, Donald Trump often boasts that he hires the “best people.” But in 2007, he bragged that he hired a woman with no experience because she was hot
...
Trump launched into an anecdote about a time he hired a woman based solely on her looks. “A beautiful girl who was 17 or 18 and applied to be a waitress,” Trump said. “So beautiful. She’s like a world-class beauty.” But, Trump recalled, his advisers pointed out that the woman had no experience. “So I interviewed her anyway because she was so pretty,” he continued. “And I said, ‘Let me ask you: Do you have any experience?’ She goes, ‘No, sir.’ I say, ‘When can you start?'” Trump flashed a big smile at the crowd.
Seventeen? Gee, no wonder Matt Gaetz loves this guy so much.
And in December 2016, when Trump was hiring White House staff and advisers, The Washington Post noted his obsession with finding people who had the right “look.”
Trump’s closest aides have come to accept that he is likely to rule out candidates if they are not attractive or not do not match his image of the type of person who should hold a certain job.
“That’s the language he speaks. He’s very aesthetic,” said one person familiar with the transition team’s internal deliberations who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “You can come with somebody who is very much qualified for the job, but if they don’t look the part, they’re not going anywhere.”
In fact, according to Trump associates interviewed by the Post, Trump’s initial reluctance to hire Neocon Ned Flanders (aka John Bolton) came down to his “brush-like mustache.” Didn’t have anything to do with the fact that Bolton was a warmonger and anthropomorphic rage boner. Apparently that’s far less disqualifying than a goofy patch of facial hair.
We wish Psaki the best going forward and hope she has a great run at MSNBC, though it will be more than a little sad to see her go. After enduring the circus parade of spokespeople Trump tormented us with, she was a breath of fresh air.
Godspeed, Jen, and good luck.
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