Donald Trump unleashed a barrage of boos from Tuesday night’s Republican presidential debate audience when he wondered aloud why Carly Fiorina — the only woman competing for the Republican nomination — kept “interrupting everybody.”
The exchange came when Sen. Rand Paul was explaining his opposition to a no-fly zone over Iraq. Fiorina jumped in to make a point, and Paul asserted that he should be able to finish his time.
That’s when Trump joined in.
“Why does she keep interrupting everybody?” he asked. “Boy, it’s terrible.”
To be clear, multiple candidates interrupted one another during Tuesday night’s debate — that’s usually how debates work. Ohio Gov. John Kasich was arguably the worst offender, frequently interrupting both the moderators and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. For what it’s worth, Trump also called out Kasich for interrupting, at one point telling him “You should let Jeb speak.”
Interrupting, however, tends to be a particularly complicated subject for women. A great deal of research has shown that women are interrupted much more than men — even by other women. To remedy this, women are constantly told that they themselves need to be more aggressive, which includes interrupting more. But research has also shown that men in workplaces react negatively to women who they perceive as too aggressive.
Tuesday was not the first time Trump has said something that might be perceived as sexist toward Fiorina. In a Rolling Stone profile, the Republican presidential frontrunner commented on Fiorina’s appearance. “Look at that face!” Trump is quoted as saying. “Would anyone vote for that?”