President Donald Trump got blasted on social media Wednesday after telling an Irish reporter that she had a nice smile during his phone call congratulating the newly-elected Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.
“We have a lot of your Irish press watching us right now. We have all of this Irish, beautiful Irish press,” Trump said before gesturing for the Irish reporter Caitriona Perry to approach him.
“Where are you from? Come here, come here,” he said to Perry.
She replied that she was from RTE News, after which Trump said, “She has a nice smile on her face, I bet she treats you well,” to Varadkar on the phone.
Video of the bizarre moment when President @realDonaldTrump called me over during his call with Taoiseach @campaignforLeo Varadkar. @rtenews pic.twitter.com/TMl2SFQaji
— Caitriona Perry (@CaitrionaPerry) June 27, 2017
At time the time of publication, Perry’s tweet had received more than 13,000 retweets and 7,000 comments, many from celebrities and journalists.
RT to raise awareness of the casual harassment women face from pervs at work every day, via @CaitrionaPerry. pic.twitter.com/2Y7D3a6Rwo
— Frank Underwood (@FrankUnderwocd) June 28, 2017
In case anyone is wondering: no, the Trump/Caitriona Perry thing is not a novelty episode, it’s sexist and creepy. https://t.co/obdssqf5hW
— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) June 28, 2017
However, other Twitter users defended the president. “This Caitriona Perry thing is getting overblown. Trump often calls on male reporters to stand beside him while he compliments their smile,” wrote novelist Damien Owens on Twitter.
Perry is a Washington Correspondent and U.S. Bureau Chief with RTE News-Ireland.
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