Trump’s Mockery Of The #MeToo Movement Underscores GOP’s Problem With Women in 2018

Trump jokes about Sen. Warren and the #MeToo movement   BY JAMES HOHMANN with Breanne Deppisch and Joanie Greve THE BIG IDEA: A new Washington Post-Schar School poll, published this morning, shows that only 32 percent of women approve of President Trump’s job performance, compared to 54 percent of men. His approval rating overall is 43 percent. While 67 percent of women disapprove of Trump’s handling of the immigration issue, only 51 percent of men do. The poll gives Democrats a 10-point advantage on the generic ballot, 47 percent to 37 percent. Three things the president did Thursday might help illuminate why only 1 in 3 registered female voters approve of him, which is creating a major drag on GOP congressional candidates: After hiring former Fox News chief executive Bill Shine and defending Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Trump mocked the #MeToo movement during an evening rally in Montana. -- Envisioning a 2020 matchup against Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Trump imagined bringing a DNA kit to one of their debates and demanding that she use it to prove that she’s got Native American ancestry. “We have to do it gently because we’re in the #MeToo generation, so we have to be very careful,” he said to scattered laughter. “We will very gently take that kit, and we will slowly toss it, hoping it doesn’t hit her and injure her arm -- even though it only weighs probably two ounces.” The president insisted he will never apologize for derisively referring to the former Harvard Law School professor as “Pocahontas.” “I’ll give you a million dollars for your favorite charity, paid for by Trump, if you take the test and it shows you’re an Indian,” Trump said, after discussing Warren’s high cheek bones. The unscripted riff, which touched on both race and gender, was reminiscent of Trump’s multi-year campaign to falsely accuse Barack Obama of being born in Kenya. “If Barack Obama opens up and gives his college records and applications, and if he gives his passport applications and records, I will give, to a charity of his choice … a check, immediately, for $5 million," Trump said in 2012. (He later claimed that he had offered $50 million.) Responding to the president, Warren observed that the Trump administration is already conducting DNA tests – on children who were separated from their parents at their border: A feminist author expressed sadness that Trump’s comments won’t get more attention: -- During his freewheeling speech in Montana, Trump went on to decry Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), one of the longest-serving women in Congress and the former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, as a “low IQ individual.” “I mean, honestly, she’s somewhere in the mid-60s, I believe,” he said. The stated purpose of Trump’s trip was to settle a score with Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), who torpedoed White House physician Ronny Jackson’s nomination to become secretary of veteran’s affairs. Trump took it personally and offered to campaign for Tester’s challenger. “Get your ass out to vote,” the president told the crowd, which included many children. “Acting presidential is so easy,” Trump added. “It's much easier than what I do.”