Donald Trump was at it again last night at a fundraising event, where he took aim at everyone from Jeb Bush to Hillary Clinton. He also found a new target: Clinton aide Huma Abedin and her husband Anthony Weiner. Speaking to a boisterous audience that was eager to clap and cheer everything the real estate magnate said, Trump called Weiner a “perv” and made fun of the sexting scandal that ended his political career using some weird hand gestures. All that seemed par for the course for Trump. But what appeared to be (yet another) new low for the most popular Republican presidential hopeful was the implication that a woman can’t be trusted to keep national security secrets if she is married and loves her husband. While talking about Abedin’s access to Clinton’s emails he said:
“If you think that Huma isn’t telling Anthony—who she’s probably desperately in love with in all fairness to Anthony because why else would she marry this guy? Can you believe it? Can’t see straight—Look, think of it, it’s coming through Huma, she’s got lots of stuff, lots of information and she’s married to a bad guy. … Do you think there’s even a five percent chance that she’s not telling Anthony Weiner—now of a public relations firm—what the hell is coming across? Do you think there’s even a little bit of a chance? I don’t think so…”
Trump then goes for the gold:
“Are there any women in this room who are in love with their husbands who wouldn’t be telling them everything?”
Lest you think this was an off-the-cuff remark taken out of context, Trump defended his attacks on Abedin and Weiner, reiterating to NBC News that she shouldn’t have access to confidential information. “I don’t think she should have been part of the people receiving it, whether it’s confidential, why would she be involved?” he said.
Clinton spokesman Nick Merrill defended Abedin. writing on Twitter that Trump “should be ashamed of himself” because “there is no place for patently false, personal attacks against a staff member.”
Trump donated $2,000 to Weiner in 2010, according to the Washington Post.
