Barack Obama offered a provocative thought experiment about women and political power this week.
Donald Trump’s response?
He called it “ridiculous.”
The exchange began during Obama’s appearance at Salem State University, where the former president was discussing leadership and the persistent imbalance between men and women at the highest levels of government.
Obama has argued for years that the world would benefit from giving more women the opportunity to lead.
This time, he went considerably further.
Rather than simply calling for more women in government, Obama imagined what might happen if countries around the world temporarily handed them the reins.
And he sounded remarkably confident about the result.
Obama said he “strongly believes” things would improve if women were put in charge of governments around the world for two years.
It was classic Obama: partly humorous, partly provocative, but built around a serious point about who gets political power — and who historically hasn’t.
The comment eventually made its way to Trump.
And on Saturday, a reporter put Obama’s argument directly to him.
Trump could have disagreed with Obama’s sweeping hypothetical while making his own case for women in leadership.
Instead, his first reaction was dismissal.
But what he said immediately afterward made the exchange considerably more interesting.
“What a ridiculous statement that is,” Trump said.
Then came the defense.
“I love women,” Trump continued. “I think they’re great.”
And Trump pointed to his own administration, claiming that he has “more women in my Cabinet than almost anybody.”
There’s just one problem with using Trump’s own administration as evidence.
The numbers tell a very different story.
A Washington Post analysis of senior executive-branch positions requiring Senate confirmation found that women accounted for just 14.53 percent of Trump’s nominees or confirmed political appointees examined during his second term — 51 women among 351 positions.
At the same point in Joe Biden’s presidency?
52.5 percent.
Trump’s figure was also below his own first term, when women represented 23.7 percent of comparable selections at that stage.
And there is another striking number.
Trump began his second term with several women serving in Cabinet or Cabinet-level positions. But according to the Post’s June analysis, every Cabinet departure up to that point had been a woman — and every one had been replaced by a man.
The White House rejects the suggestion that those numbers demonstrate a problem.
A spokesperson told the Post that Trump chooses members of his administration based on their ability to deliver for Americans rather than immutable characteristics, accusing Democrats of focusing excessively on identity politics.
That is a legitimate argument for the White House to make.
But it doesn’t make the numbers disappear.
And it makes Trump’s response to Obama considerably more revealing than the simple “I love women” soundbite might suggest.
Obama was talking about what could happen if women were given dramatically more political power.
Trump called the idea ridiculous — and then pointed to his own record.
That record is now part of the conversation too.
Fortunately, nobody has to rely on someone else’s description of the exchange.
Watch Obama.
Watch Trump.
Then look at the numbers.
Video source: Occupy Democrats
About the Author
Oh yeah Donald Chump loves women – but only if they will accept having their p***y grabbed or being raped! Ask E. Jean Carroll about that! Amen?