A Journalist Just Told Her Story About the Time Trump Called Her the C-Word in 1988
This morning, a story appeared on Billy Penn. It was written by Jennifer Lin, a former financial reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer who was once called a “c*nt” by current Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
She had written a story about his dealings with casinos. Another person had outbid him and in the compromise between them, shareholders ended up getting paid way more than they would have if Trump’s initial proposal had gone unchallenged. She wrote that the other bidder had mentioned Trump trying to intimidate shareholders by threatening them with bankruptcy and insisting he was the only one who could complete the casino project that had thus far failed.
Obviously, he didn’t like the story. First, he called Lin:
There was no hello. But there was yelling, lots of yelling.
The word “shit” was used repeatedly as a noun and adjective.
I had shit for brains.
I worked for a shitty newspaper.
What sort of shit did I write.
Before I could reply, he hung up.
Next, he called her editor, Craig Stock:
Craig was treated to the same Trumpian wordplay, but got an added treat. Trump referred to me as “that cunt.”
Finally, this exchange happened:
Craig, a calm Iowan, asked Trump what was wrong with the story. He explained that The Inquirerwould run a correction if the paper had made an error.
Trump snapped that he didn’t read the story.
“No one reads the story,” the 41-year-old blustered. “I read the headline and I didn’t like it.”
Craig suggested that he read the story, then call him back if there were any problems.
He did not hear back from Trump.
“I read the headline and I didn’t like it” is a common sentiment on Twitter in this day and age. With that in mind, Trump was practically a visionary.
However, from any other viewpoint, this isn’t good for Trump. His opponent Hillary Clinton is not alone in repeatedly bringing up his misogynistic comments. With 40 days to go before the election and a huge controversy over his weight-shaming remarks to a former beauty queen (or two…) still brewing, it isn’t good that women are still coming forward with stories like Lin’s.
[image via screengrab]
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
