In a recent interview, Donald Trump praised his White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, by comparing her lips to “a machine gun”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s much admired lips. Screen shot: cbsnews/YouTube

Donald Trump is not known to have a flair for saying nice things about women, even when praising them. In an interview aired last Friday with the right-wing Newsmax, press secretary Karoline Leavitt was mentioned by host Rob Finnerty. Mr Trump’s rejoinder was swift: “She’s become a star. It’s that face. It’s that brain. It’s those lips, the way they move. They move like she’s a machine gun.” It is not clear why a simple “she’s very good at her job” won’t suffice. It’s been noted that for a figure like Mr Trump, whose political identity is built on a rejection of convention, the manner in which he praises his staff is often a reflection of his broader communication and leadership strategy. Many of his fans say that the “machine gun” metaphor is clearly about her rapid and forceful speaking, and nothing else, as insinuated by so many online.

No, there is no sexual innuendo: They argue that the interpretation of anything sexual in Mr Trump’s remarks is driven by political opposition rather than the actual intent of the words. Fair enough, but there is no mention that Mr Trump has a pattern of remarks about women’s appearances, singling out specific facial and body parts to compliment, as well as insult. The sexual undertone in his comments on Ms Leavitt’s lips that many see is not inconsistent with Mr Trump’s history of saying what he likes to do to women and performing the act, including kissing them without permission. Mr Trump is known as an avid kisser. In 2016, a People reporter, Natasha Stoynoff, wrote in an in the magazine that, while on an assignment in Mar-a-Largo about a decade earlier, the real estate developer pushed her against a wall and kissed her or, as Ms Stoynoff recalled, forced “his tongue down my throat”.

The sexual undertone that many see is not inconsistent with Mr Trump’s history of saying what he likes to do to women and performing the act, including kissing them without permission

In the same year that Ms. Stoynoff alleged the Mar-a-Lago incident occurred, Mr Trump was also recorded on the infamous ‘Access Hollywood’ tape, in which he said a number of crude and sexually aggressive comments about women. Most people remember: “And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.” But prior to that, he had also said, “I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait.” The comment about Ms Leavitt continues to show his attraction to lips, and part of a larger trend of objectification. The backlash online is intense, with many calling his comments about one of his frontline staffers “cringey”, “unprofessional”, and “creepy.” But his defenders were adamant that there was no “conscious intent”. That could mean that Trump is naturally like that.

Lips are his thing, so are assault weapons. It is ironic that, for a man who claims not to like wars, he uses the metaphor of automatic weapons with such ease and glee. In fact, Mr Trump has never opposed imageries of combat and violence, including “warriors”, “fighting”, “destroying” opponents, and the aforementioned “machine gun”. He even sent out the biggest of them all, the “bunker buster” bomb, when he ordered Iran’s nuclear facilities to be incapacitated. Weaponry thrills him, so much so that he ordered a parade that featured troops and hardware on his birthday to celebrate the Army’s 250th anniversary. His aggressive stance applies not just to foreign policy, but to domestic politics as well. This use of martial language may contradict his stated aversion to actual war, but, ultimately, it does strengthen his toxic machismo.