Story highlights
- Dean Obeidallah says Donald Trump's attacks on the Clintons show he doesn't get what "sexism" is about though he engages in it
- From Carly Fiorina to Megyn Kelly, Obeidallah looks at the sexist comments he's made about women
Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is the host of SiriusXM's weekly program "The Dean Obeidallah Show," a columnist for The Daily Beast and editor of the politics blog The Dean's Report. Follow him on Twitter: @TheDeansreport. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
(CNN)We have all heard about low-information voters. Well, Donald Trump is a low-information candidate -- as we have seen on a range of issues from his not understanding our military's nuclear triad to his earning Politifact's award for "lie of the year" based on his parade of inaccurate statements made during his campaign.
The latest episode comes in Trump's use of the word "sexism." Trump tweeted over the weekend that Bill Clinton has "demonstrated a penchant for sexism" after Hillary announced Bill would be helping her campaign.
Trump's various tweets alleging sexism versus Bill bring to mind the famous line from the movie "Princess Bride." In that classic comedy, Mandy Patinkin's character challenged another's incorrect use of a word with the statement: "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
Now there's no disputing that Bill had extramarital relations. But that's not in and of itself sexism. The dictionary definition of sexism is generally two fold, either discrimination based on gender or "behavior, conditions, or attitudes that foster stereotypes of social roles based on sex."
A dictionary definition, however, can only go so far in grasping what a concept such as sexism actually means. Real world examples tend to be a better teaching tool. So let me give you some real life examples of what are undeniably examples of sexism -- all courtesy of Donald J. Trump:
-- Trump told a female reporter: "I mean, we could say politically correct that look doesn't matter, but the look obviously matters." Adding, "Like you wouldn't have your job if you weren't beautiful." Telling a woman she only got her job because she's pretty is about as sexist as you get.
-- Trump about fellow GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina: "Carly -- look at that face. Would anybody vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?! I mean, she's a woman, and I'm not s'posedta say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?" Conversely, saying a women isn't qualified for a job because she isn't pretty enough is again textbook sexism.
-- Trump in April tweeted: "If Hillary Clinton can't satisfy her husband what makes her think she can satisfy America."
Trump blames Hillary for her husband's infidelity because apparently to Trump, the wife is required to satisfy her husband and if she doesn't, the man will understandably seek satisfaction elsewhere. Behold: Sexism!
-- After Fox News' Megyn Kelly challenged Trump's history of sexist remarks by noting that he had called women, "fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals," Trump went on CNN and attacked Kelly with the statement: "You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes...Blood coming out of her wherever."
Trump deserves an award of some sort for this incident -- he responded to charges of being sexist by being even more sexist by claiming that Kelly only asked him challenging questions because she was having her period. Apparently to Trump, female journalists can't possibly be good reporters unless it's a certain time of the month.
And there are so many other examples of Trump's sexism over the years documented in articles like "The nine most sexist Donald Trump quotes" and "18 Real Things Donald Trump Has Actually Said About Women." If a sexist hall of fame were ever built, Trump would be in it. (But knowing Trump, he would likely want the hall to be named after him.)
Now if cheating on your wife was in fact a sexist act, then Trump has that covered, too. Trump very famously cheated on his wife and the mother of his three children, Ivana, with Marla Maples in 1990. That affair made headlines, which reportedly caused Ivana "to been completely humiliated by Donald through his public association with Marla Maples."
Of course, no one is saying that Bill Clinton's past infidelities are off limits. But how are they Hillary's responsibility?
I get the sense that Trump believes that women are defined by their husbands and are not capable of having their own identity apart from that. If that turns out to be Trump's point, that would truly be the cherry on Trump's sexist sundae.
