A Washington Post Editor Alleges That Donald Trump ‘Hit On’ Her After An Interview

Donald Trump Visits Turnberry Golf Club
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Donald Trump’s life on the campaign trail remains busy, but he still manages to pack in several events per day. On Monday, he delivered a surprisingly calm speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Trump reaffirmed his support for Israel after previously claiming that he’s done more for Israel than any other presidential candidate.

If you’re worried about Trump simply focusing on issues, well, silly rabbit. He’s still been saying questionable things about women, which isn’t surprising, but nonetheless bizarre for a man who’s running for president. This latest round of lady-bashing is twofold. First, Trump kept his “obsession” with Megyn Kelly alive while visiting Wolf Blitzer for a pre-taped CNN interview. He asserted that Kelly owes him half her salary after he boosted her career into the stratosphere. Trump said Kelly is the obsessed party, and she has to discuss him, or her show will sink. Further, Trump also insulted Blitzer by saying that if Kelly didn’t cover him, “Her ratings would drop down far lower than yours.” The news anchor didn’t appear to be disturbed by the comment; he simply wore his usual Blitzed expression.

Also on Monday, Trump allegedly hit on a female Washington Post editor named Karen Attiah. She first dropped the news on Twitter, and you may not want to read her replies, which are predictably not nice.

Attiah later wrote about her experience, which concluded after an interview with the paper’s editorial board. Towards the end of the discussion, Attiah asked Trump to defend his “dangerous and divisive” anti-Muslim and anti-Hispanic rhetoric, and he did so in his usual blustery way. He simply talked around questions and exaggerated his own poll numbers with minorities. As the on-the-record portion of the event ended, Attiah spoke to Trump as she walked out the door and received an earful in return:

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?

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.

This behavior doesn’t sound unlike a candidate who regularly makes disparaging comments about women. If this story is true, Trump couldn’t resist slipping in a comment about a female journalist’s appearance, yet he’d never tell a man he was “handsome” after a talk. That just wouldn’t happen, and Trump will probably excuse himself by saying he was complimenting a lady. She certainly didn’t see it that way.

(Via CNN and Washington Post)

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