Donald Trump draws backlash for sexist remarks about women at Charlie Kirk award, highlighting his history of misconduct. Photo: X.
President Donald Trump continued a pattern of remarks about women that critics describe as sexist and misogynistic during an award ceremony for the late right-wing activist Charlie Kirk on Tuesday. Speaking before inviting Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, a former Miss Arizona pageant winner, to address the audience, Trump made comments suggesting that beauty and intelligence rarely coexist in women.
“I was with [Charlie] before I met Erika. And he told me he was going to get married. He said, ‘You won’t believe how beautiful she is,'” Trump said. “But then he also said, ‘And you know what? She’s like the smartest person I know.’ See, they do go together on occasion. Not often. Not often. But on occasion, they go together.”
Trump’s remarks drew swift backlash online, with social media users describing his comments as “creepy” and “greasy.” One X user wrote, “Honestly, I am still shocked how creepy Trump is towards women. How women like him is insane to me.” Another added, “Because beauty is all that matters to him,” while a third simply called the comments “super greasy.”
Trump’s remarks are consistent with a long history of controversial statements and behavior toward women. Since the 1970s, at least 25 women have accused him of rape, sexual assault, or sexual harassment, including non-consensual kissing or groping.
In 2005, a recording obtained by The Washington Post revealed a conversation between Trump and television host Billy Bush in which Trump discussed attempting to seduce a married woman.
In 2023, Trump was found liable by a New York jury for sexual abuse and defamation in a case brought by writer E. Jean Carroll, resulting in combined damages of $88.3 million.
Trump owned the Miss Universe pageant franchise, including Miss USA and Miss Teen USA, from 1996 to 2015. During a 2005 interview with Howard Stern, he admitted to regularly entering contestants’ dressing rooms while they were undressed, a revelation that added to longstanding criticism of his treatment of women.
Charlie Kirk, the honoree of Tuesday’s ceremony, was known for promoting traditional gender roles. He encouraged young women to attend college primarily to find husbands and “embrace their roles as mothers and homemakers,” according to The New York Times. Kirk also controversially claimed that birth control makes women bitter and angry and that it “screws up female brains.”
Zubair Amin is a Senior Journalist at NewsX with over seven years of experience in reporting and editorial work. He has written for leading national and international publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Wire, Article 14, Mongabay, News9, among others. His primary focus is on international affairs, with a strong interest in US politics and policy. He also writes on West Asia, Indian polity, and constitutional issues. Zubair tweets at zubaiyr.amin
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