John Locher/AP
While campaigning for president, Donald Trump often boasts that he hires the “best people.” But in 2007, he bragged that he hired a woman with no experience because she was hot.
His comments came in a speech for the Learning Annex, an adult education firm that reportedly paid Trump $1.5 million per appearance. During the question-and-answer portion of the event, held in San Francisco, a woman in the audience asked Trump, “How many jets do you have and how might I apply to be a flight attendant?” Trump immediately had the woman brought onstage, where he checked her out, wrapped his arm around her, and and then declared, “You’re hired.”
Then Trump launched into an anecdote about a time he hired a woman based solely on her looks. “A beautiful girl who was 17 or 18 and applied to be a waitress,” Trump said. “So beautiful. She’s like a world-class beauty.” But, Trump recalled, his advisers pointed out that the woman had no experience. “So I interviewed her anyway because she was so pretty,” he continued. “And I said, ‘Let me ask you: Do you have any experience?’ She goes, ‘No, sir.’ I say, ‘When can you start?'” Trump flashed a big smile at the crowd.
Trump returned to the woman onstage with him. “You can work on my plane anytime,” he said.
Trump told the large audience that beautiful women are his “alcoholism.” And he noted, “If she worked on my plane, that’s like a death wish for me.”
Throughout the campaign, Trump has been dogged by his statements about women. He has often spoken about them in oafish and misogynistic ways. During the primary campaign, he insulted the appearance of his primary opponent Carly Fiorina. And, in comments that have been widely interpreted as sexist, he has claimed that Hillary Clinton does not have “a presidential look.” At the first presidential debate on Monday night, Clinton went after Trump on this front and pointed out that he had called women “pigs” and “dogs” and that he had insulted and body-shamed a former Miss Universe in the 1990s.
Trump tried to defend himself by noting that he has said some “very tough things” about Rosie O’Donnell and that “nobody feels sorry for her.” The next day, he said the former Miss Universe, Alicia Machado, was “the absolute worst” and that her weight was “a real problem.”
Here’s a transcript of Trump’s 2007 exchange during the Learning Annex speech:
Woman in the audience: My name is Juliet. I have a question. My question is, how many jets do you have and how might I apply to be a flight attendant?
Trump: Come on up here and [unintelligible]. I think she’s hired. [The woman joins him onstage, and Trump wraps his arms around her.] You’re hired.
Trump: You know, I had a case that was very interesting. A beautiful girl who was 17 or 18 and applied to be a waitress. So beautiful. She’s like a world-class beauty—like the young lady who just asked a question about the actress. She’s so beautiful. And my people came and she said, “Mr. Trump, she has no experience.” So I interviewed her anyway because she was so pretty. And I said, “Let me ask you, do you have any experience?” She goes, “No, sir.” I say, “When can you start?” [Trump kisses the woman before she leaves the podium.]
Trump: You can work on my plane anytime. [Trump stares at the woman as she walks off the stage.]
Trump: See now, if she worked on my plane, that’s like a death wish for me, right? That’s like an alcoholic [unintelligible]. People are alcoholics. You put Scotch in front of them, it’s like [Trump gestures wildly with his hands], it’s like, this would be my form of alcoholism.
