Trump and Gillibrand tangle over tweet
New York senator calls president’s Twitter attack on her a “sexist smear”
WASHINGTON – President Trump’s Twitter attack on Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, which she called a “sexist smear,” is fueling Democratic calls for congressional hearings on the president’s own alleged past sexual misconduct, with some even joining the call for him to resign.
Democrats in the House and Senate said the tweet underscores the need for the president to be held to account at a time when harassment accusations are felling powerful men from Hollywood to Washington.
“He does a favor by drawing attention to this issue, so I think it’s a boomerang back on the president,” said Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. Trump’s tweet “was intended to certainly harass her,” he said, and he called for hearings to enable every woman who has a story about Trump to “get a clear, full chance to share that with the American people.”
Gillibrand is among six Democratic senators who’ve called for Trump’s resignation after a week in which sexual harassment allegations forced the resignations of three lawmakers. The accusations are similar to those leveled against Trump by at least a dozen women during the 2016 campaign.
Gillibrand used to come “begging” for campaign contributions and “would do anything for them,” Trump said.
In a news conference, Gillibrand said the tweet “is a sexist smear” and “part of the president’s effort at name-calling. ... It is intended to silence me.”
The president’s broadside against Gillibrand is among a number of factors putting a spotlight on Trump’s alleged sexual groping and harassment of women that was a campaign controversy.
Several women on Monday revived their allegations that Trump, a former New York businessman, sexually harassed or assaulted them, and they called for a congressional investigation.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders rejected Democratic criticism that the tweet was sexist and included sexual innuendo. “He’s talking about the way our system functions ... that politicians regularly beg for money,” Sanders said. “There is no way that this is sexist at all.”
On Tuesday, Gillibrand was in a weekly bipartisan Senate Bible study group when her phone buzzed, according to two Democratic aides not authorized to speak publicly. The aides informed her of Trump’s tweet and asked how she wanted to respond. Gillibrand dictated her response and went back to the group.
Within moments, a number of her female Senate colleagues took to Twitter to lambaste the president. Trump is a “misogynist, compulsive liar, and admitted sexual predator,” said Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii.
Hirono also called for Trump to resign, as did Merkley, Ron Wyden of Oregon, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., tweeted: “Are you really trying to bully, intimidate and slut-shame @SenGillibrand? ... Good luck with that.”