Feinstein: Trump Should 'Grow Up' After Potshot At Clinton
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein told President Donald Trump to "grow up and do your job" in response Monday to his retweeting of a mock video that shows him smacking a golf ball that -in the next frame - strikes Hillary Clinton in the back before she stumbles and falls down.
Trump retweeted the brief video on his official Twitter account Sunday. It appears to be a doctored version of news footage from 2011 that shows the then-secretary of state falling after climbing airplane stairs. The re-edited video appears to have superimposed images of a golf ball that is shown hitting Clinton.
The tweet says, "Donald Trump's amazing golf swing #CrookedHillary."
Feinstein said the tweet was "appalling and disgusting." The California senator said all Americans should be offended by the "vindictive and candidly dangerous messages" the president sends. She said the messages demean all women, not just Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee.
"He continues to obsessively lash out at her - at his rallies, with his words and now through social media - in a manner that is utterly unbecoming of the president of the United States," Feinstein said in a statement.
A Clinton spokesman had no comment after the president tweeted the video. The White House issued no immediate comment. Trump aides have said in the past that his tweets "speak for themselves." The assessment from Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.: "juvenile."
Back in July, Trump vented his rage against the media by posting someone else's doctored anti-CNN video that showed Trump pummeling a man in a business suit - the man's face obscured by the CNN logo - outside a wrestling ring.
Trump has stepped up his criticism of Clinton since she re-emerged to promote her new book about the 2016 campaign. She is unsparing in her assessment of Trump, calling him "a clear and present danger to the country and the world."
The 2016 election is a source of major pride for Trump, who often cites his electoral vote victory as evidence of campaign prowess and popularity with Americans. He is quick to challenge or criticize anything that undercuts that premise. Trump has established a commission to investigate his unsubstantiated claims that millions of people voted illegally in 2016, when Clinton won the popular vote by nearly 2.9 million votes.
Clinton's book assigns blame for her presidential loss on several factors, including interference from Russian hackers, accusations leveled at her by former FBI Director James Comey and even her gender. The White House has criticized the book, with spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders calling it "sad" that the last chapter of Clinton's public life will be defined by selling books with "false and reckless attacks."
In a pair of tweets last week, Trump took direct aim at Clinton.
"Crooked Hillary Clinton blames everybody (and every thing) but herself for her election loss. She lost the debates and lost her direction!" Trump wrote.
Referring to Clinton's past description of some Trump supporters, he later tweeted: "The 'deplorables' came back to haunt Hillary. They expressed their feelings loud and clear. She spent big money but, in the end, had no game!"
© Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
