I won’t even spend much here on this story because, quite honestly, the person at the center of it is not worth the effort. However, I do want to point out, yet another possible repulsive act on display by Donald Trump. I say “possible” because there’s a debate on whether or not the action took place.
You see, a few days ago, the orange, Wanna-be Dictator, held a video conference to congratulate astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir for being the first females to complete a spacewalk. The only problem with the congratulatory sentiment was that it was incorrect. The female star chasers were not the first females to do so. Their endeavor still was historic, though, as they became the first female astronauts to conduct a spacewalk together.
As the call opened, Trump stated, “And this is the first time for a woman outside of the space station.” An unavoidable 5-minute delay due to location (the ladies are still in orbit) prevented the astronauts from responding immediately. Nevertheless, once they did, they graciously thanked the President but respectfully corrected him to clarify that they were not the first women to ever complete a spacewalk outside of the space station. It was the first time that two women had been outside in space together.
“First of all, we don’t want to take too much credit, because there have been many other female spacewalkers before us. This is just the first time there have been two women outside at the same time,” Meir said.
Reportedly Trump had already been frustrated in the call because of the time delay, which, as was explained to him, could not be “fixed.” He was speaking to them in outer space. Of course, that concept was likely hard to grasp for a man who doesn’t believe in science, especially a man who also belongs to a political party in which many of its members still think the earth is flat.
Being corrected publicly by women, Trump looked frustrated and appeared to give the middle finger on the sly with an odd sweeping motion across his brow. A video of the moment went viral with people debating if Trump had given Meir the middle finger as she corrected him.
When gently corrected by one of the astronauts about how other women have spacewalked, Donald Trump uses his middle finger to "fix" his hair.
How is this even real life? pic.twitter.com/9bnj7XfY1m
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) October 21, 2019
Nothing Trump does any more surprises me, but when I first saw the video, even though suspicious, I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. I mean, yeah, it looks weird, but we all do lots of unconscious bodily actions that we don’t even realize until someone points them out. So I first thought maybe that’s just the finger he uses to adjust his hair, discretely scratch an itch, or wipe sweat from his brow.
But then I came across an article at Gizmodo that changed my willingness to be diplomatic. Gizmodo cites past instances where Trump has made this same weird middle finger motion in the presence of perceived adversaries or enemies –captured on video. Add to that his history of disrespect against strong women who put him in his place like Hillary Clinton, Rosie O’Donnell, and Nancy Pelosi, and it is entirely plausible that he did flip the bird to Jessica Meir.
Given Trump’s well-documented history of petulant taunts, tantrums, and complete inability to control his most juvenile impulses, that’s a yes, from me. I think yes, he gave Meir the sneaky middle finger –and action most of us haven’t done since we were ten years old, if ever.
I would say, “Grow Up! Mr. President,” but the man is in his 70s, so it’s far too late for that…clearly.
The Democrats need to look into this impeachable offense for at least 2 years.