Late-night host Seth Meyers on Monday slammed President Trump’s treatment of two female reporters earlier in the day as “sexist,” claiming the president was “super demeaning” in his responses to both women during a Rose Garden press conference.
Trump during the conference insulted ABC’s Cecilia Vega and interrupted CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. Meyers played clips of both tense exchanges, then asked, “I mean, how much of a sexist d— can you possibly be?”
{mosads}The president interrupted Collins when she tried to ask a question about embattled Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who is facing scrutiny following sexual misconduct allegations from three women. Kavanaugh has denied all accounts.
When Collins said she wanted to ask Trump about his high court pick, Trump replied, “Don’t do that. Excuse me, do you have a question on trade?”
When she explained she was trying to move to another topic, Trump said, “Don’t do that, that’s not nice. Excuse me, don’t do that.”
Trump has received the most pushback over his later exchange with Vega. After he called on her, he said, “She’s shocked that I picked her. In a state of shock.”
“I’m not,” Vega replied. “Thank you, Mr. President.”
“That’s OK, I know you’re not thinking,” he said. “You never do.” Several people in the crowd groaned.
Meyers during “Late Night with Seth Meyers” called the press conference “surreal.”
“It’s almost like he saw someone else getting attention for acting like a maniac on TV and thought, ‘I could top that,'” Meyers said as he showed an image of Kavanaugh looking angry during last week’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
Both Vega and Collins took to Twitter to express discontent with Trump’s behavior.
“The White House argues that questions at events should be focused on the topic at hand,” Collins, who was barred from a presidential event earlier this year, tweeted. “Trump said same today when he asked for trade questions and initially refused Kavanaugh ones. But he was OK w one about building the wall, he just didn’t want to answer ones about Kavanaugh.”
Trump ultimately talked about Kavanaugh for about 25 minutes.
“A news conference means you get to ask whatever question you want to ask,” Vega tweeted with the hashtag “#FirstAmendment.”