Advance Notice: Briefs

Stabenow says Trump has difficulties with ‘strong, smart women’

By: Susan J. Demas - May 22, 2019 8:40 pm

President Donald J. Trump arrives at Joint Base Andrews Air Force Base Wednesday, March 20, 2019, in Maryland, en route Ohio. | Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead via Flickr Public Domain

President Donald Trump on Wednesday said in a press conference in the Rose Garden that he told top Democrats he wouldn’t strike an infrastructure deal while Congress was investigating his administration.

That prompted U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to write her caucus a letter, which was released to the media, in which she said the president “threw a temper tantrum for us all to see.”

Debbie Stabenow at her Washington, D.C., office | Robin Bravender

U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Lansing) was interviewed about the spat on CNN later on Wednesday and said she could think of one reason why Trump has particular trouble dealing with Pelosi.

CNN host Anderson Cooper asked Stabenow: “Do you think there’s something specifically about Speaker Pelosi that gets under the president’s skin? Because it seems that he has a different reaction to her than he does to, like, Sen. [Chuck] Schumer.”

Stabenow responded of Pelosi: “She’s an incredibly smart woman and she’s tough. She will work with him, but she’s very savvy and I don’t think he does well with strong, smart women.”

Michigan’s senior senator then laughed.

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Susan J. Demas

Susan J. Demas is a 23-year journalism veteran and one of the state’s foremost experts on Michigan politics, appearing on C-SPAN, MSNBC, CNN, NPR and WKAR-TV’s “Off the Record.” In addition to serving as Editor-in-Chief, she is the Advance’s chief columnist, writing on women, LGBTQ people, the state budget, the economy and more. For almost five years, Susan was the Editor and Publisher of Inside Michigan Politics, the most-cited political newsletter in the state. Susan’s award-winning political analysis has run in more than 100 national, international and regional media outlets, including the Guardian U.K., NBC News, the New York Times, the Detroit News and MLive.