Wednesday on HLN’s “S.E. Cupp Unfiltered,” host S.E. Cupp accused the Trump administration of “sexism” in the back-and-forth with UN Ambassador Nikki Haley over additional sanctions on Russia.
Cupp said, “Nikki Haley is not here for your sexism, White House. I’m not prone to cry sexism. I don’t do it often or lightly. But there’s no other word to describe the way President Trump and his advisers have treated a woman who is arguably his strongest, most confident and effective cabinet official. U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley was not only hung out to dry by the Trump administration, she was then dismissed and head patted by an old boys club Trump adviser who thought he could. It was shameful. Haley said over the weekend that Treasury Department head Mnuchin would be announcing new sanctions against Russia for aiding in Syria’s horrific chemical attacks on civilians.”
She continued, “That was something she had said earlier on Fox News, and it was specific: Mnuchin on Monday. Clearly, Haley didn’t invent this idea out of thin air. In fact, the White House told surrogates the Saturday before that, that sanctions were coming. And a Russian newspaper published a report on that same Sunday claiming U.S. ambassador to Russia, Jon Huntsman, had also delivered a formal letter to Moscow warning of impending new U.S. penalties over support of the Syrian regime, according to NPR. Yet Monday came and went with no sanctions. When it came time for the White House to answer for this, instead of shouldering the obvious blame for poor communication with one of Trump’s top officials, or admitting they had simply changed their minds, they threw Haley under the bus. Here was White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, ‘We’re considering sanctions on Russia,’ she says, ‘but are evaluating, but nothing announce right now.’ Two senior administration officials sold CNN Tuesday that, quote, ‘Haley must have walked away from a Friday White House meeting about the sanctions having misunderstood how firm the plans were.’ Then came Larry Kudlow, Trump’s top economic adviser. He told CNN, quote, ‘She got ahead of the curve. She’s done a great job. She’s a very effective ambassador. There may have been some momentary confusion about that.’ Yeah, it’s Haley who is confused. Kudlow was also sure to point out who really knew what was going on. He said, ‘If you talk to Steve Mnuchin at Treasury and so forth, he will tell you the same thing. They’re in charge of this. Additional sanctions are under consideration but not implemented.’ Look, here’s the deal, this whole spectacle was not only embarrassing for spotlighting the lack of organization among the men running Trump’s bumbling White House but for its naked attempt to deflect that by making it all Haley’s fault for getting all confused and stuff. But because—do not come for her, Haley was quick to put Kudlow and the rest in place, staying in a statement, ‘With all due respect, I don’t get confused.’ It was the perfect rebuttal, but I would have left out the respect bit. They don’t deserve hers because she clearly doesn’t have theirs.”
Cupp added, “And that’s odd because while Kudlow and the rest are running around trying to clean up after whatever inane thing the president’s just tweeted or make policy decisions that, you know, don’t contradict one another, or to keep all the president’s scandals straight, Haley’s taking on global terrorists like Putin and Assad with tougher language than Trump’s ever mustered. She makes her male counterparts look like scared schoolboys merely playing at government. It gets even more pathetic if you can believe it. According to a new report in The New York Times, Mr. Trump has grown suspicious of her ambition, convinced she has been angling for Mr. Tillerson’s position and increasingly wondering whether she wants his own job. What children. I for one hope she is looking to run for president in the near future. It would be nice to have someone with balls in the White House.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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