Donald Trump Calls Stormy Daniels “Horseface” and This Is How We Live Now

Over the last few years, Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted that he respects women. He says he “cherishes” them, he loves them, he respects them. He’s said he respects women more than Hillary Clinton, more than anyone, in fact, anyone at all. No one has ever respected women like Donald Trump respects women, according to Donald Trump.

How, exactly does he demonstrate his extreme, unprecedented respect for women? Well, in the past, he’s used number-based rankings to insult their looks, shamed a former beauty pageant winner for gaining weight, posted a meme insulting the appearance of his political opponent’s wife, and insinuated that women accusing him of sexual misconduct weren’t attractive enough to assault—just to name a few instances. Recently we saw him mock Christine Blasey Ford’s emotional and courageous public testimony in which she described the sexual assault she says she suffered as a teenager.

So it’s no surprise (although it is still disappointing and maddening) to see Trump refer to Stormy Daniels, whose defamation suit against the president was dismissed by a federal judge yesterday, as—and I can’t believe I have to type this out—”Horseface.”

Now, Trump slings personal insults and derisive nicknames at both men and women. But while his insults towards men tend to be about their IQ or their actions, his insults towards women are nearly always about their looks. (And sometimes also their IQ.) It’s why Rosie O’Donnell is a “fat pig” and a “slob,” why Mika Brzezinski had a bad face-lift, why Carly “look at that face!” Fiorina isn’t attractive enough to be President. All of these women criticized Trump’s actions or ideas, and he responds by criticizing their appearance. Because for men like Trump, calling a woman unattractive is the ultimate way to say they’re not worth listening to.

When Trump says he “respects women,” he means he tolerates (or even, yes, “cherishes” in a teetering pedestal sort of way) women who conform to his very specific ideas of what femininity is. Women must show him admiration, agree with him on all things, and above all, they must be physically attractive. In short, they should be Ivanka.

There are plenty of people who will call Trump’s insults toward Stormy Daniels a “distraction” from more important news. I don’t think the continuing misogyny demonstrated by the president of the United States or any politician or person in a major position of power should be dismissed as a distraction. It is worth noting, though, that because this is the Trump presidency, the news cycle is unending and there are a lot of other important stories that don’t have a trending hashtag. Our exhaustion is, after all, their greatest weapon.

(image: RALF HIRSCHBERGER/AFP/Getty Images)

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Vivian Kane

Vivian Kane (she/her) is the Senior News Editor at The Mary Sue, where she's been writing about politics and entertainment (and all the ways in which the two overlap) since the dark days of late 2016. Born in San Francisco and radicalized in Los Angeles, she now lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where she gets to put her MFA to use covering the local theatre scene. She is the co-owner of The Pitch, Kansas City’s alt news and culture magazine, alongside her husband, Brock Wilbur, with whom she also shares many cats.

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