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Outrage after Trump says MSNBC wants to HIRE Jen Psaki because 'they need a redhead!'

The former president was at a rally in Michigan when he mentioned reports that Psaki was giving up her White House role to join a major news network

Former President Donald J Trump faced a backlash from critics for describing White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki as “the woman with the really beautiful red hair” at a rally in Michigan.

The 45th POTUS was talking to a packed arena in Macomb County on Saturday, April 2, when he mentioned reports that Psaki was resigning from her White House role to join a major news network. While the 43-year-old spokeswoman is yet to officially declare her resignation, Washington sources believe her deputy Karine Jean-Pierre is being considered as a replacement. If Jean-Pierre becomes the White House press secretary, she would be the first LGBTQ+ Black woman to hold the position.

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“The woman with the really beautiful red hair, she left and she was hit so hard by the military because they knew I was right. The military understood I was right,” Trump joked to his supporters on Saturday. He mocked MSNBC as "MSDNC", referring to the Democratic National Committee, and claimed the White House official was being considered for the job because of the color of her hair. “You know she’s going to MSDNC, you know that, right?” Trump continued. “They need a redhead! They don’t have a redhead over there so they need a redhead," he quipped.

Critics of the former president lashed out at his comments about the White House press secretary's appearance.

"Trump claims MSNBC is hiring Psaki because they need a redhead. So I guess he won the 2016 election because America needed a squirrelly mop," author Buddy Winston tweeted.

"He is purposefully demeaning her. Jen Psaki is the bomb and Trump isn't worthy to speak her name," Arizona Democrat Suzanne McCain added.

"Trump stands before his cult members and makes derogatory or demeaning remarks and thinks it's funny," Chicago Democrat Richard Caslon wrote. "Now he compliments Ms. Psaki for her red hair followed by a snide remark. Wait till Ms. Psaki does join MSNBC and comes after his sorry a*s. He won't think it so funny anymore."

"Objectifying, as usual. Although, as a redhead myself, I agree that we need more redheads. And less Trump," another Twitter user offered.
 

That said, Psaki has not confirmed plans for her future despite multiple reports suggesting a potential move to MSNBC. “I have nothing to confirm about my length of public service or planned service or anything about consideration about next plans,” she said during a press briefing on Friday, April 1. 

Meanwhile, at the Michigan rally, Trump also claimed that Vladimir Putin wouldn't have invaded Ukraine if he was still in the White House. The former real estate mogul said he was surprised at the invasion and thought the Russian president was just negotiating a "great deal". “I thought he was negotiating. He had 150,000 soldiers on the border, I thought he was going to make a great deal,” he said.

Trump also alluded that Putin was emboldened to invade Ukraine after witnessing Biden's chaotic withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. “I think that when he (Putin) saw what happened in Afghanistan, the way we ran, we didn’t have one soldier killed there in 18 months, I said Abdul there are going to be no more of our soldiers killed. Not one person was killed for 18 months and Biden even said that,” the former president said. “Then we lost 13, but they don’t talk about how horribly so many of them were wounded. This invasion of Ukraine would never have happened if I was in the White House, would never have happened, not ever,” he added.