On June 19, Hope Hicks, the former White House director of strategic communications then director of White House communications, was interviewed by the House Judiciary Committee. The interview was not public and was behind closed doors. Yesterday, a transcript of the interview was released.
It was revealed that during the interview Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) referred to Hicks as “Ms. Lewandowski” three separate times before she corrected him. If I hadn’t seen the transcript for myself, I simply would not have believed it.
Her name is Hope Hicks. It practically rolls off the tongue. It’s not forgettable. And certainly not a name that one would confuse.
The level of disrespect by a congressman to an individual testifying before Congress is absolutely stunning. The blatant sexism Nadler displayed simply cannot be ignored.
To back up for a minute, Lewandowski is of course a reference to Corey Lewandowski, a former campaign manager for Donald Trump. In the now widely discredited book by noted hack Michael Wolff, Wolff claimed that Hicks and Lewandowski had an affair while Lewandowski was married.
Wolff made many outrageous claims in his book, including salacious and disgusting claims about U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley. Wolff is a con artist, who like many others, saw a way to make a dollar off the Trump presidency. While the book was CNN fodder for a period of time, any reputable outlet saw it for what it was: tabloid trash.
Hicks is a very attractive young woman. She was a model early in her life. She is also a smart, well-educated woman, who previously worked at the Trump Organization. Indeed, she was Trump’s longest-serving aide at the time of her resignation. It’s been widely reported that not only was she was excellent at her job, she was someone Trump actually listened to. If you’ve been paying attention at all, you know that’s not an easy feat.
She earned her reputation as a loyal, hardworking White House staffer. She does not, under any circumstances, deserve some pants-up-to-his-chin congressman addressing her by the name of a man she may have dated. Dated. Not married.
Let’s be absolutely clear: Nadler knew exactly what he was doing. What he did was not only sexist, but purposeful and truly ugly. Whether or not Hicks and Lewandowski had an affair or even dated is completely beside the point. They were not a public couple posing for pictures for People Magazine. For Nadler to refer to her as Lewandowski is the lowest of the low, and entirely inappropriate.
Whether he did it to rattle her during her testimony, or to take a shot at Trump, is also irrelevant. I don’t care what his motive was. When you’re so obsessed with taking down a political opponent that you don’t care who is collateral damage, it’s really time to reassess what you’re doing with your life.
In this author’s opinion, Hicks showed restraint. She let Nadler pull this nonsense not once, not twice, but three times before she politely corrected him: “I’m Ms. Hicks.” I assure you my response would not have been as civil and definitely not as refrained. There was simply no reason, under any circumstances, for Nadler to confuse her for Lewandowski.
I won’t hold my breath, but surely the feminists will come to Hicks’s defense and demand that Nadler publicly apologize. Right?
Just kidding. I know they won’t. The hypocrisy and double standards in politics are as gross as Nadler’s conduct. When it’s your side that’s committed the malfeasance it’s easy to ignore or make excuses.
In the meantime, I will continue to call out these stunts. Congress is and always will be a joke. But stunts like this that attack and demean people should be unacceptable, no matter your party affiliation.
I strongly believe in congressional term limits. Nadler has been in Congress since 1992. He apparently feels comfortable enough to pull these disgusting stunts.
His treatment of Hicks is unacceptable and reprehensible. Yet it will go unpunished and I would be surprised if any of his colleagues on the same side of the aisle called him out for this gross behavior. I know people have lots of bad things to say about lawyers. But man, politics is so gross.
