Former Republican President Donald Trump was criticized after joking during a Michigan rally that White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki—whose planned departure from the White House in May may be followed by a gig with MSNBC—was only joining the network "because they need a redhead."
Trump commented on Psaki's "really beautiful red hair" and disparaged MSNBC as "MSDNC," suggesting the network is little more than an arm for the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Democratic Party at large.
You can hear Trump's remarks in the video below.
Trump, speaking to the crowd in Washington Township in the Detroit metro area, issued the following freewheeling remarks:
"And then the woman with the really beautiful red hair, she left. And she was hit so hard by the military because they knew I was right, the military understood I was right."
"You know she's going to MSDNC, you know that right? Right? They need a redhead. They don't have a redhead over there so they need a redhead."
Trump's remarks about the military appear to refer to a comment Psaki made in February about the Space Force, the space service branch of the United States Armed Forces that Trump reorganized when he signed the United States Space Force Act as part of the National Defense Authorization Act and that his critics viewed as little more than a Trump branding project.
When asked by a reporter whether President Joe Biden has made a decision about “keeping, or keeping the scope of, Space Force," Psaki sarcastically referred to it as "the plane of today" and said she would be "happy to check with our Space Force point of contact."
Trump has a long history of misogynistic commentary about women's appearances, perhaps most infamously when he, referring to then-Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, said she had "blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever" during the 2015 Republican presidential debate.
In 2014, he told a female reporter it would be "politically correct" to say that looks "don't matter," and suggested that "you wouldn't have your job if you weren't beautiful."
Trump's comments were criticized and perceived as an addition to his record of sexist commentary.
Over the weekend, a source with knowledge of the matter confirmed to Axios that Psaki is "in close consultation with the White House counsel's office about her departure.". Psaki has not yet formally told the White House press team about her departure and MSNBC has been working with its compliance lawyers to ensure their conversations do not violate government regulations.
