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Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
President Trump tweeted this morning that he was glad his Chief of Staff John Kelly fired "that dog" Omarosa Manigault Newman, who released a tape this morning in which members of Trump's staff discussed how they might respond to rumors of him being recorded using a racial slur.
The big picture: This is not the first time Trump has invoked a "dog" metaphor to insult someone, but its direct use to attack a woman of color has prompted Twitter outrage and debate from prominent figures on both the right and left.
What they're saying:
- Editor-at-large of The Weekly Standard Bill Kristol: "Has Trump called any of the fine white men who've worked for him in the White House — who include abusers, liars, grifters and bigots — a dog?"
- FOX News contributor Geraldo Rivera: "Fear my friend @realDonaldTrump undermines himself by using intemperate, boorish language to describe his enemies. I can't stand @OMAROSA a bully, back stabber & big mouth. But to call her a 'dog' & 'low life' is beneath dignity of the office of @POTUS & open to ugly connotation."
- Conservative radio host and former Rep. Joe Walsh: "The President of the United States just called a woman a 'dog.' He just called a black woman a 'dog.' Not good."
- Former CIA director John Brennan: "It’s astounding how often you fail to live up to minimum standards of decency, civility, & probity. Seems like you will never understand what it means to be president, nor what it takes to be a good, decent, & honest person. So disheartening, so dangerous for our Nation."
- Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.): "This kind of language is unbecoming of a President of the United States. There is no excuse for it, and Republicans should not be okay with it."
- Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.): "Mr. President, it is beneath you and the office of the presidency to call any woman a dog. It is degrading and demeaning, and I pray that you will stop this vulgar behavior. Our country is better than this."
- CNN analyst April Ryan: "Let me be clear! Calling a Black woman a dog is unacceptable. This is a pattern. We saw it with the black football players moms. They were called sons of B*tches."