Gillibrand: Trump attack ‘certainly just a sexist smear’

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday said she interpreted President Trump’s attack against her as a sexual innuendo, saying that is not the “discourse” the country wants.

Gillibrand, who has called on Trump to resign over allegations of sexual misconduct, was the subject of a Trump tweet on Tuesday in which he called her a “lightweight” who “would do anything” for campaign contributions — a comment some have interpreted as sexual.

“Well certainly that was how I and many people read it,” Gillibrand said on NBC’s “Today.” “It was certainly just a sexist smear intended to silence me.”

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“The president says whatever he wants whenever he wants. I don’t think that level of discourse, however, is what this country wants,” she continued.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday pushed back on the claims that the language was a sexual reference, telling those who took it as such that their minds were “in the gutter.”

The White House has also dismissed the claims of more than a dozen women who accuse Trump of various forms of sexual misconduct, calling the women liars.

“I think what he has done is unacceptable and if you put that in the context of multiple accusers who have accused him of sexual assault and sexual harassment that are credible, you need accountability,” Gillibrand said, adding that “he should resign.”

She said Trump should be investigated by Congress if he refuses to step aside.

Gillibrand added that the United States is seeing “quick justice” in various industries across the country, after a series of prominent men resigned or were dismissed from high-level positions amid sexual misconduct allegations.

“You are seeing quick justice whether it is in Hollywood, or corporation America or in Congress,” Gillibrand told NBC. 

The New York lawmaker, who has become a prominent voice on sexual misconduct, credited the “Me Too” movement as inspiring women to publicly come forward with their stories of abuse.