Donald Trump Calls Breastfeeding Mum “Disgusting”
Trump is in hot water after his breastfeeding related comments. [Photo: Rex]
US presidential candidate Donald Trump called a female lawyer “disgusting” after she asked for a break from a deposition in order to express milk, according to a New York Times report.
Elizabeth Beck, who had a three-month-old daughter at the time of the incident in 2011, was questioning Trump over a failed Florida real estate project and requested the time out in order to pump milk.
According to the report, Beck’s appeal for a quick break was contested by Trump and his lawyers and so Beck was forced to get out her breast pump to show that it was a incredibly time sensitive issue. Trump then called Beck “disgusting” before leaving the room.
Anyone who knows a thing or two about breastfeeding will know that if you don’t breastfeed, or express milk regularly using a breast pump, then you’re likely to experience some leakage – which no working mum would want to be faced with in front of a room full of colleagues and clients.
Breastfeeding mums need to pump regularly. [Photo: Rex]
The quote hasn’t been disputed by Trump and Beck claims he had “an absolute meltdown” over her request for a break – despite the fact that she had pre-negotiated breaks during the deposition to pump milk.
“[Trump] got up, his face got red, he shook his finger at me and he screamed, ‘You’re disgusting, you’re disgusting’ and he ran out of the there,” the lawyer said during an interview with CNN yesterday.
Alan Garten, one of Trump’s lawyers, told the Times that his response “was in no way a statement about her decision to breastfeed or pump. It was solely the fact that she was appearing to do it in the middle of a deposition.”
Trump hasn’t stayed quiet and addressed the incident on Twitter, saying that Beck “wanted to breast pump in front of me”.
He didn’t leave it at that and wrote that “Lawyer Elizabeth Beck did a terrible job against me, she lost (I even got legal fees). I loved beating her, she was easy.”
Trump tweeted the above in response to the claims. [Twitter/Donald Trump]
Trump hasn’t spoken out about his views on working mums or breastfeeding before, however he did congratulate himself in Iowa in April after he “didn’t get angry” at a baby who cried throughout one of his speeches. Big of you, Mr Trump.
Shilpa Phadke, Senior Director, Women’s Initiative, for the Center for American Progress tells Yahoo Parenting that Trump’s breastfeeding quote represents just “another example of how out of touch he is.”
Phadke adds that the words don’t bode well for the candidate’s presidential run. “What women in America want out of their next presidential candidate is someone who is in touch with the realities of working families,” she says.
“They are looking for solutions to everyday problems. We’ve seen in the last few elections how important the women’s vote is, and it will be very interesting to see how women react to Trump’s words.”
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