And now we have a new low in polarization. President Donald Trump is now saying former Vice President Joe Biden is insulting men by picking a woman to run as the Democratic Vice Presidential candidate. He used a rhetorical device he frequently uses so he can later say he didn’t say what he said.
If you’re looking for a quintessential example of fragile masculinity, look no further. President Donald Trump suggested Tuesday morning that, in pledging to pick a woman as his running mate, Joe Biden has offended men everywhere.
Trump made his comments in a simpering interview with Fox Sports personality and OutKick founder Clay Travis. Travis’ fearsome questioning covered why the president thinks the media is so mean to him, what sports he likes to watch on television, and if he thought Biden had made a mistake doing something so outlandish as to choose a woman as his as-yet-unannounced vice-presidential pick.
Asked by Travis who he would pick if he was in Biden’s position, the president replied: “I would be inclined to a different route to the way he’s done. First of all he roped himself into a, you know, certain group of people.” For those unable to crack the president’s mysterious code, Travis explained: “He said he had to pick a woman.”
Trump replied: “He said that. Some people would say that men are insulted by that, and some people would say it’s fine. I don’t know.”
Trump frequently uses this rhetorical device when he makes a controversial statement or charge: he says “some” or “some people” would say or are saying then adds “I don’t know.” But he knows what he’s doing.
Polls continue to show that men overwhelmingly want Trump and women overwhelmingly want Biden. So Trump is signaling, in effect, that he’s given up any attempt to ease the generation gap. He’s going all in.
Fellas, is it unmanly to choose a super qualified woman to help you run the country? https://t.co/NEZJYOxnKi
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) August 11, 2020
By "some men" @realDonaldTrump is referring to himself and his misogynistic buddies. A "REAL MAN" is not threatened or insulted by strong women. https://t.co/DUMQzdXbZ1
— Rick D (@dkcir) August 11, 2020
DECODING TRUMP: WOMEN (BLACK WOMEN, IN PARTICULAR) ARE AN INSULT. Trump: Biden Is Insulting Men Everywhere by Picking Woman as Running Mate https://t.co/cch2H1GZTT via @thedailybeast
— stuart greenbaum (@HumbleSkyGPR) August 11, 2020
Trump: 'Some people would say men are insulted' by Joe Biden choosing a woman as VP https://t.co/tzKOvDAE6f via ?@USATODAY?
trump YOU ARE AN INSULT???— SMAO (@SuzieQ3dognite) August 11, 2020
Trump just magaged to insult blacks, women and men all in one paragraph.
— Lin (@19kfish) August 11, 2020
BREAKING: Donald Trump just claimed that men are insulted over the fact that Joe Biden promised to pick a female running mate.
If you are insulted that Biden thinks that a female's opinion is just as worthy as a man's, then you are just as weak and cowardly as Donald Trump.
— Mrs. Krassenstein (@HKrassenstein) August 11, 2020
2020 election by gender via Monmouth poll:
Men:
51% Trump
39% BidenWomen:
61% Biden
32% Trump— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) August 11, 2020
‘Biden is insulting idiots everywhere by picking woman as running mate.’ There I fixed it.
— Armand Hamouth? ? (@AreMond2) August 11, 2020
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Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.