It’s time for yet another episode of Offended! First off, Washington Post Opinions Deputy Digital Editor Karen Attiah tweeted out this Monday (via The Lid)
So. I got hit on today by Donald Trump.
— Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) March 21, 2016
Finally, a few hours later, she explains, and, like most liberals, ends up an emotional wreck, all sorts of triggering and microaggressions
I asked Trump a policy question. Then he called me ‘beautiful.’
Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner for the presidential nomination, met with The Washington Post’s editorial board Monday to answer questions ranging from his views on NATO and the American criminal justice system to the violence that has been plaguing his rallies. We hoped that we would get to peel back some of the layers of Trump. In our meeting, when asked whether he thought there were racial disparities in how laws are enforced, Trump said he had “no opinion.†As time was running out, I wanted to press him a little more on if he plans to run on and/or govern on a message of racial inclusion. (snip to relevant portion)
As the meeting ended and we were walking out of the room, I thanked Trump for taking my question. He turned to me and said, “I really hope I answered your question,†and added casually with a smile, “Beautiful.†I was stunned. I didn’t say thank you, and I don’t think I smiled. He then walked out to meet with my Post colleagues briefly before heading to the elevator. I stayed in the conference room for a few minutes as it sunk in that the potential GOP nominee for president thought it was okay to comment on my appearance. Did he just say that?
Oh noes! Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling! Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes… The dead rising from the grave! Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together… mass hysteria! Seriously, stunned? Sitting in a room for a few minutes? Does someone need some coloring books?
Planning out how to question Trump in a way that was illuminating was like planning for asymmetrical warfare against an opponent who doesn’t follow the same rules as you do. Who doesn’t believe in rules. Who thinks that rules won’t help make America great again. In Trump’s world, commenting on a woman’s appearance in a professional setting is fair game, as is predicting riots if he doesn’t get the nomination, threatening the speaker of the House, vowing to “open up†libel laws to go after “unfair†media, and helping to stoke the flames of violence at his rallies.
Perhaps someone should accept a compliment for what it is, and move on with their life.
Perhaps he thought that calling me beautiful would make me ignore the fact that he brazenly lied about his polling numbers among Hispanic voters. Or make me believe that he wasn’t really a racist. Who knows? At least now I know, firsthand, that the sexism that Trump puts on display against Megyn Kelly under the lights of national TV is not that much different from how he is in real life toward female journalists.
Sad.
It’s now sexist and stuff to offer a compliment? Good grief, only in Liberal World does a person have a meltdown over a compliment! As Jeff Dunetz wrote at The Lid “if thats what Karen Attiah calls being hit on, she really needs to switch to decaf.”
Of course, that begs the question, was Donald Trump even talking about Ms. Attiah? It sure doesn’t appear, as she writes the encounter, that he was hitting on her. He could have been talking about the overall interview. Perhaps he had a good time. He could have been talking about something he saw out the window, or a photo on the wall. What’s the full context?
Even if he was calling her beautiful, is that a reason to go into full Special Snowflake meltdown? Can certain people, meaning leftists/feminists, no longer take a compliment?
https://twitter.com/Cernovich/status/712003671253364736
That may be a bit over the top, much like the post I snagged it from, but it does highlight the problem when dealing with Leftists. Like pitching a fit and writing a piece in one of the nation’s premier newspapers to highlight your Outrage and being Offended.
Crossed at Right Wing News.
Teach how would YOU feel if Trump called you beautiful?
Better than being called ugly, I suppose! 🙂
Having looked at Miss Attiah’s photo, perhaps she was angered by this because Mr Trump referring to her as “beautiful” was obviously sarcasm.
However, let’s tell the truth here: as more and more of journalism is being taken over by visual media, looks are increasingly important in journalism. Fox News made it to number one at least in part by putting their anchorbabes in short skirts and f(ornicate) me heels, and CNN and even the Weather Channel have followed suit. You’ll see the anchorbabes in not just short skirts, but often sleeveless dresses even in the middle of winter, because the media bosses know that showing skin sells.
Another truth: better-looking people tend to earn more money. Studies concerning looks have an objectivity problem, because attractiveness is a judgement call, but those studies which have been done show that attractiveness pays. Studies concerning height, something which is not subjective, have indicated that taller men tend to get paid better. The left might not like it, but the truth is simple: even in leftist-dominated industries, looks matter.
Miss Attiah will be career-restricted to the print medium because she’s just not good looking enough to make it on television, and unless she’s totally stupid, she knows it. I can see where a comment about her looks which was clearly not serious might have offended her.
The term is from the 60’s, similar to groovy. It was not a reference to her appearance, unless Trump was wearing very dark glasses.
Anyone who thinks that calling anyone “beautiful” is appropriate in a professional setting needs to learn something about business protocol
Wether as a compliment or being sarcastic it is inappropriate
And Dana Fox News is #1. ……… In the JV cable news league
During the prime time news hour when he is competing with ABC NBC CBS Fox gets about 10% of the audience
Didn’t you used to work as an OTR truck driver and a commercial fisherman? What experience in a “professional setting” do you have as truck drivers and fisherman are misogynistic in the extreme? Project much?
Secondly, was this a “professional setting?” A walking interview doesn’t classify as a professional setting.
Maybe. But it is clear from her writing that she was looking to hit on Trump with something and so she found a nugget she thinks she can exploit. Her sad attempt is a failure.
Of course, by definition, there is no such things as the “prime time news hour,” so no one can know what john is talking about. But it appears that john doesn’t understand the way viewership is rated. (That john doesn’t understand numbers is not shocking at all.) That fact of the matter is that in 2015, Fox was the number one news channel.
Trump’s opinion on a reporter’s appearance is irrelevant, thus unprofessional. But this is the vulgar level at which Trump operates and conservatives defend. It least Trump didn’t call her sugartits or brown sugar.
Then the rednecks here pile on and comment on the reporter’s appearance, as if that’s relevant – as if a fat, old, funny looking man is doing a young woman a favor by judging her appearance.
Whenever one looks at Trump, the first thing that comes to most people’s minds is “pathetic”, but they have the good taste not to mention it – because it’s irrelevant.
“Thanks for the answers to the questions, ‘pathetic’.”
Jeffrey gets it wrong:
Given that the media select reporters based in part upon their appearance, it would seem that the media bosses consider a reporter’s appearance to be very relevant, and a professional qualification. Perhaps appearance is less of an issue in the print medium, in that the reporters aren’t reporting in a way in which the readership (normally) sees them, but editors know that better-looking reporters often have more access to news sources than less attractive reporters, because people simply respond better to attractive people.