Donald Trump Gives Unintentional Sexual Harassment 101 Course in Bizarre Interaction With Journalist

In the middle of all the batshit-bananas stuff surrounding Donald Trump lately, including fake Time covers and regularly scheduled Twitter rants, you may have missed this interaction he had with an Irish journalist yesterday. And honestly, I’m a little sorry to point it out to you, because you would definitely have been happier—and had far less crawling skin—if you had never, ever known this had happened.

You see, Trump was on the phone with Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Leo Varadkar to congratulate him for being appointed to the position. So, there was Irish press in the room, which you can hear Trump complimenting in the video above, despite his disdain for the American press. That’s where things went off the rails. “Beautiful” was already one of Trump’s favorite adjectives, but his use of the word in this instance seemed, more than usual, a little telling of what’s important to him.

He called Caitriona Perry, Washington Correspondent and US Bureau Chief for RTÉ News, over to his desk, and commented that the “nice smile” on her face must be an indication that she treats Varadkar well. To some, I’m sure this is “just how Trump normally talks,” but that’s the danger with normalization—he normally talks like a drunken harasser. Excusing that as OK because it’s normal for him is exactly how other men get away with repeated, similar inappropriate behavior.

Perry clearly found the interaction uncomfortable enough to post it on Twitter and call it bizarre, which elicited both support, apologies from embarrassed Americans, and of course, people insisting that they didn’t see anything wrong—which, again, is the problem. Trump just had no idea he was doing such a good job of demonstrating it.

(via Twitter, image: screengrab)

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Dan Van Winkle

Dan Van Winkle (he) is an editor and manager who has been working in digital media since 2013, first at now-defunct Geekosystem (RIP), and then at The Mary Sue starting in 2014, specializing in gaming, science, and technology. Outside of his professional experience, he has been active in video game modding and development as a hobby for many years. He lives in North Carolina with Lisa Brown (his wife) and Liz Lemon (their dog), both of whom are the best, and you will regret challenging him at Smash Bros.

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