Sometimes there’s just no need for words. A look alone is enough to say it all. That was definitely the case on Tuesday night as Chris Christie’s wife listened to (or should we say endured) Donald Trump’s sexist victory speech in New York.
In an irony that no doubt escaped Trump and his supporters, the Republican candidate seized the opportunity to play the gender card by accusing Hilary Clinton of “playing the woman’s card.” According to Trump, if Clinton was a man she’d be lucky to get “5% of the vote.”
Someone probably should have pointed out to Trump that there was an actual woman standing right behind him before he launched into a sexist attack on his rival. Based on the expression on her face, it’s safe to assume that Mary Pat Christie is not one of Trump’s greatest fans.
Standing alongside her husband and dressed demurely in pink, New Jersey’s First Lady did a commendable job of maintaining her composure throughout most of the speech. It was only when Trump took his swipe at Clinton that her composure cracked and her true feelings shone through.
It started with a flicker of the eyes, followed by a barely-suppressed eye roll and a subtle but distinct curling of the lip.
As if realizing she’d given too much away, Mary Pat cast her eyes downward and adopted a vacant, Stepford-wife expression before appearing to smile along with Trump’s supporters, but it was too little too late. Sorry, Mary Pat, but the cat’s out of the bag.
In another delicious irony, Mary Pat’s true feelings about the Republican front-runner were written all over her face just as Trump was claiming that Clinton is doomed because “women don’t like her.” (This doesn’t explain why in Trump’s view, the only reason Clinton can hope to get any votes is because she’s female, as presumably its women who will be voting for her, but we all know logic isn’t Trump’s strong point).
With just a subtle eye roll and a curl of the lip, Mary Pat Christie has given expression to the disgust and anger felt by women everywhere towards Trump.
Featured image by Gage Skidmore from Flickr. Permission to use under Creative Commons 2.0
