The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill

Trump’s first year in office was the year of the woman

Getty Images

It is a feat so great that President Barack Obama was unable to accomplish it.

President George W. Bush did better than his republican predecessors, but still fell a bit short.

Even President Bill Clinton came under fire from women’s organizations for his shortcomings on delivering a cabinet that “looks like America.”

The unattainable feat?

Hiring an astounding number of women for senior-level positions in the White House.

Luckily for women everywhere, in 2018 it has finally been accomplished.

Naturally, Vogue has written about it. Cosmopolitan has shouted it from the rooftops, as has MSNBC and every other liberal news outlet.

If only that last part were true.

Despite impressive hiring practices during his first year in the White House, President Donald Trump has received little to no credit for his choice of women for the most senior positions on his cabinet, as well as the West Wing.

In fact, the mainstream media only selectively reported on the male appointees of the Trump administration, claiming that he was appointing “more white and male than any first cabinet since Reagan.” This myth was perpetuated by Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) comments as well as media reports that Trump only valued the opinions of “guys named Steve.”

The New York Times even reported on Jan. 13, 2017 — a full week before Trump even took the oath of office or set foot in the oval office — that he apparently preferred men over women for senior roles.

 

The organization never published a follow-up story in the same way touting the roles that women impressively took on within the administration. Instead, they chose to focus on the inane differences of “inner-cabinet” members (those in line of succession to the presidency) versus other cabinet members, rather than looking at the wide-sweeping empowerment and hiring of women across the entire White House operation.

One of the greatest successes of Trump’s first year in office has been the empowerment of women. Certainly, there have been plenty of other successes in the first year of the Trump administration — a record stock market surpassing 25,000, unemployment at a 17-year low, illegal border crossings lowered by 76 percent, a unanimous United Nations resolution against a nuclear North Korea, and more than 1 million bonuses given to American workers in just the last three weeks thanks to Trump’s leadership on tax reform. However, to write about those accomplishments without mentioning the women who helped make it happen is to miss part of the story.

So, why have the mainstream media given him no credit? Why haven’t the glossy magazines – who pride themselves on empowering women in the workplace — given him credit where credit is due? If Hillary Clinton were president, they would be touting her accomplishments.

The answer is because Trump is a republican. It’s accurate to state that he is just not their guy.

How can one prove this?

Only seven percent of journalists recently identified as republican during the last presidential election cycle; that’s right, ninety-three percent of journalists said they were not republican in 2015. Compare this number to 1992 when the New York Times reported that just 44 percent of journalists claimed to be democrats.

The Center for Public Integrity also revealed through its analysis of the 2016 elections that journalists “overwhelmingly donated” to Hillary Clinton. So much for independently refereeing the match.

However, just because Trump doesn’t receive credit for his hiring of women doesn’t mean it’s any less significant.

His list of female appointees is long: Nikki Haley, Ambassador to the United Nations (not only a woman but also child of Indian American Sikh immigrants); Elaine Chao, Secretary of Transportation; Kirstjen Nielsen, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security; Dr. Heather Wilson, Secretary of the Air Force; Sarah Sanders, White House Press Secretary; Kellyanne Conway, Counselor to the President; Linda McMahon, Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration; Betsy DeVos, Secretary of Education; Jovita Carranza, U.S. Treasurer (also a minority and first-generation Mexican American immigrant); Neomi Rao, Regulation Czar (also a minority and daughter of parents from India); Seema Verma, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (also a minority); Heather Brand, Associate Attorney General; Kelly Sadler, Director of Surrogate & Coalitions Outreach; Mercedes Schlapp, Senior Communications Advisor (also a minority whose father was once a political prisoner of Fidel Castro); Ivanka Trump, Advisor to the President; Hope Hicks, Communications Director; Jessica Ditto, Deputy Director of Communications; and Dina Powell, Deputy National Security Adviser who according to White House sources will remain in her position through the end of January and will likely be replaced by another woman after Powell completes her first year in office.

In addition to the career professionals in the White House, there is the somewhat reluctant First Lady Melania Trump, who arguably has stepped up to the plate bigtime in times of crisis such as Hurricane Harvey (in five-inch stiletto heels, no less.)

With their first year in office under their belts, most of the women listed above will convene tomorrow for a “Conversation with the Women of America” to discuss economics, health care, national security and how in their respective roles they intend to continue helping “Make America Great Again” during the second year of the Trump administration.

If liberals today had any shred of intellectual honesty left among them, they would admit that Trump’s placement of women in senior level positions is impressive and establishes a precedent that helps their own daughters and granddaughters.

Unfortunately, the left will never admit it.

Regardless of what one thinks of Trump the man, there is no denying the numbers of women he has placed in power in the West Wing. As we commemorate the one-year anniversary of his inauguration this week, I predict that history will eventually reveal the complete story – that Trump’s actions are not only a small step for a male republican president but a giant leap for all of womankind, regardless of political party.

Jen Kerns has served as a GOP strategist and writer for the U.S. presidential debates for FOX News. She previously served as communications director and spokeswoman for the California Republican Party, the Colorado Recalls over gun control, and the Prop. 8 battle over marriage which went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Tags Barack Obama Betsy DeVos Bill Clinton Donald Trump Donald Trump Donald Trump presidential campaign Elaine Chao Hillary Clinton Hope Hicks Ivanka Trump Ivanka Trump Kellyanne Conway Kellyanne Conway Kirstjen Nielsen Linda McMahon Melania Trump Mike Pence Nancy Pelosi Nikki Haley United States

Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Most Popular

Load more