Trump Appears To Make Lewd Hand Gesture During Ohio Rally
At a rally in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Thursday evening, President Donald Trump made two separate hand gestures, directed toward a protester being escorted out, one of which is being questioned as possibly having derogatory and sexual overtones.
As the protester was being removed, Trump did his signature quick-point hand movement, reminiscent of a gesture he used on his popular game show “The Apprentice,” The Independent reported. With his other hand, he did something different — pumping his fist down at waist level.
It isn’t immediately clear what the president meant by that hand gesture, but for many observers, it looked similar in scope to a hand movement that is meant to be revoltingly disparaging. The movement, if those observations are correct, entails an individual mimicking the act of masturbation in the direction of another person they dislike or are upset with, and is meant to be a deep insult.
Several users on social media were quick to assume that was precisely what was going on.
This vulgar man… https://t.co/vPZv5nqBcC
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) August 2, 2019
What…what is he doing?pic.twitter.com/gtTQsOkkSJ
— Holly Figueroa O'Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) August 2, 2019
Normally you’d say that isn’t what it looks like BUT with Trump, I think it is! ??? Melania, just a”locker room” gesture?
— Merrill⭐️ (@MerrillLynched) August 2, 2019
To coordinate the time stamps you have to use this image from Fox with C-Span images of podiums but:
TRUMP pointed to the demonstrator and made a "jerkoff" gesture twice directly from his crotch.
He then remained quiet until his mob did its work.
— John Nevelten (@mindvirus2016) August 2, 2019
Is… that video clip of Trump making *that* gesture…real?! ?
— Me too (@ofthestardust) August 2, 2019
Others believed that Trump was merely making a gesture with his thumb, as if saying “get him out of here” with his hand movement.
The issue highlights a possible bit of hypocrisy, if the gesture is indeed meant to be derogatory. In his criticisms toward four Democratic congresswomen of color in the past few weeks, Trump derided the lawmakers over their disdain for his policies and problems in the U.S., implying that their concerns were un-American.
Among his complaints, however, Trump also noted that the women used “foul language,” NBC News reported, including using the f-word. If he indeed used the obscene gesture that many assume he did on Thursday evening, the president is displaying a “do as I say, not as I do” attitude about the matter.
Trump has notoriously used other foul language in the past as well. In a rally in North Carolina, Trump used the phrase “god damn” twice in the same speech, the Charlotte Observer noted. TIME magazine has also noted many other instances where Trump has cursed, including when he called NFL players sons of b—-es, and