At an event to celebrate the 100th anniversary of women's right to vote, President Donald Trump mocked Michelle Obama, the country's most revered woman, as "over her head," after delivering a fiery, direct-to-camera speech attacking him at the Democratic National Convention Monday.
"Well, she 's way over her head, and honestly, she should have made the speech live, which she didn't do," he said Tuesday when asked his response to Obama 's remarks, calling her address "highly divisive" before quickly pivoting to speak about drug prices.
Obama has consistently topped the list of the most respected women in the country and left office with a ranking of 69 per cent in favor.
Obama delivered a clear Trump administration warning, and Trump himself, in her taped remarks of 19 minutes.
"He's had more than enough opportunities to show he can do the job, but he's obviously in his mind. He can't reach the moment. He can't really be who we need him to be for us," she said, before referencing Trump's answer when asked about life lost from coronavirus in the country: "It's what it is."
During event on Tuesday, Trump commemorated the centenary of the 19th Amendment, the right of women to vote, by pardoning women's rights activist Susan B. Anthony.
"I'll sign a full and total pardon for Susan B. Anthony later today. She's never been forgiven," he said during remarks in the Blue Room.
In the 1872 presidential elections Anthony was charged and found guilty of voting
He said the pardon was "right now" being processed and would be signed later Tuesday.
In his attempts to target the primary voting block of suburban White women, the president has consistently appealed to what he terms the "suburban housewife," with fear-mongering about equal housing legislation intended to combat segregation in recent weeks.
He has often resorted to racist and patriarchal stereotypes to characterize Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic vice presidential candidate.
Asked Tuesday to explain his view of suburban women voters, Trump used the term "housewife" again, while most suburban women work.
"I truly believe that the suburban resident, the suburban housewife, the women — and men — who live in the suburbs want security and they want security," he said.
Trump also praised the employment levels of pre-pandemic women, and said it would be higher.
"As we struggle to bring a better future for all women and Americans, we remember the wonderful victory a century ago," Trump said before signing a proclamation commemorating the women's right to vote a century ago.
Trump also lauded the accomplishments of suffragette Elizabeth Cady Stanton and called the ratification of the 19th Amendment a "monumental triumph for equality and justice," highlighting the number of women serving at Congress, attending college, voting and business owners.
"Women control the United States, that is to say," Trump said.