It's not easy being RNC chief Ronna Romney McDaniel. Trump tells her to stop using the name "Romney" because he doesn't want her giving publicity to Mitt Romney (which is why we must always call her Ronna Romney McDaniel), and then she has to pretend she cares about stupid stuff.
Her job today was to go on CNN New Day and pretend to Chris Cuomo that she is outraged at Sen. Cory Booker for his interrogation of Homeland Security Sec. Kirstjen Nielsen.
"You accused Booker of mansplaining. Why did you call it that?" Cuomo asked.
"I think it would have been covered differently if it were a Republican senator yelling or lecturing a woman coming before the Senate, not giving her a chance to explain herself, grandstanding. I know he's auditioning for 2020. I understand that. he was disrespectful and he did mansplain to her. She deserved an opportunity to answer," Romney McDaniel said.
Cuomo screened Booker's response.
"First of all, I'm glad they're finally attacking me. They attack senators almost every single day. It's a little insulting to say I should be treating cabinet secretaries one way or another depending on their gender. I'm standing here in my official capacity challenging a cabinet secretary who is lying before the Senate on an issue that affects my state as well as this nation, as well as us internationally, something as serious as her lying about overt bigotry coming out of the white house."
"In this age of recognizing women as equal once and for all, on all levels, why would he have to treat Nielsen differently? She's so strong, so competent, so empowered. Why would he have to talk to her differently than he would to have a man?" Cuomo said.
"I don't think he should have to talk to her differently, but I will say he was disrespectful to her as the director of Homeland Security and he was mansplaining like that all the time."
Cuomo looked amused as Romney McDaniel continued.
"Cory Booker was grandstanding, lecturing her, didn't give her a chance to respond. It was disrespectful. He's auditioning for 2020. Oprah just got the headlines. Now he got them," she said. (I'm confused. She means that black people are, um, interchangeable and not judged on their own merits? Or that the media can only cover one prominent black person at a time?)
"I'm not quibbling with your points. There's always politics being played, no question," Cuomo said.
"It's just interesting. This woman Nielsen is in charge of keeping the rest of us safe, the Homeland Security secretary. That was a tough day for her. We'll see what it brings out in the wash," he said.
It's all just a game. She comes on and takes her shots, he pretends to take her seriously. No mention at all of Nielsen lying about whether she remembers Trump's comments in the immigration meeting, of course. Or the fact that it's insulting to Americans that this woman would rather placate Trump than tell the truth.
A lot of that going around lately.
