Ana Navarro, a Nicaraguan American commentator and Republican strategist, went on an incredible tirade on CNN Friday night against Trump supporter Scottie Nell Hughes, after Hughes objected to Navarro using the word “pussy” on air.
Navarro and Hughes were on a panel discussing the leaked comments that featured Donald Trump effectively bragging about sexual assault in 2005.
“Every single Republican is going to have to answer the question, ‘What did you do the day you saw the tape of this man boasting about grabbing a woman’s pussy?’” Navarro said.
“Please stop saying that word,” Hughes said. “My daughter is listening.”
“You know what, Scottie?” Navarro shouted, after some loud crosstalk. “Don’t tell me you’re offended when I say ‘pussy,’ but you’re not offended when Donald Trump said it. I’m not running for president. He is.”
Ana Navarro goes supernova on @CNN. The woman in pink is #Trump's mouthpiece. #TrumpTapes #epic @ananavarro pic.twitter.com/eMBEQB4mY1
— DrunkEnough (@DrunkEnough) October 8, 2016
Host Don Lemon cut to a commercial break shortly thereafter, and Navarro wasn’t on for the next segment. Lemon said on air, and Navarro confirmed on Twitter, that she had to leave because she was tired after a long day.
Navarro had also spoken out against Trump fiercely earlier in the segment.
"How many times does he get away with saying something misogynistic before we call him a misogynist?” she asked. "How many times does he get away with saying something sexist before we acknowledge that he is a sexist? It is time to condemn the man."
Later, Lemon pressed Hughes over the exchange with Navarro. Hughes clarified that she was in fact offended by the word “pussy” when Trump said it, and claimed CNN had run the video with the word bleeped out. (That wasn’t true, Lemon said; CNN had in fact run the video all day uncensored.)
After Hughes started talking about Hillary Clinton, Lemon pressed Hughes on how she felt, personally, as a woman, about defending Donald Trump after this.
“I wish those comments didn’t exist in our society,” Hughes said. “But I also know ... in the presidency, words matter, but more importantly actions matter.”
The problem with Trump’s remarks, though, is that they do connect to actions.
It’s possible Trump was boasting in 2005 — but he was still boasting that he, personally, had committed sexual assault, which is vile enough. And more disturbingly, Trump has actually been credibly accused of sexual harassment, sexual assault, or rape by multiple women.
Trump’s remarks weren’t just an isolated gaffe. They epitomized decades of derogatory and disturbing sexist comments and actions.
That’s why Navarro was so righteously angry, and why every decent American should be.
