Trump Susan B Anthony Joke Women Panel Twitter Reaction

A household name in the women's suffrage movement was trending on Twitter during Women's History Month, but not for the reason you would expect.

On Wednesday, President Trump held a women's empowerment panel at the White House. There, he said his administration would try to make childcare more affordable, praised his wife Melania's poll numbers, and joked about suffragist Susan B. Anthony.

During his speech, he listed some of the women who have made history, such as first lady Abigail Adams and abolitionist Harriet Tubman.

The president also told the crowd, "And we've had leaders like Susan B. Anthony. Have you heard of Susan B. Anthony? I'm shocked that you've heard."

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Trump jokingly asks a group of women at the White House: "Have you heard of Susan B. Anthony? I'm shocked that you've heard." pic.twitter.com/423gD7itcn
— Brianna Sacks (@bri_sacks) March 29, 2017

It was pretty obvious that Trump was just being sarcastic. Of course the women in the panel know about Anthony. (Or at least, we hope so.) But some people on Twitter still didn't find his joke charming, because it sounded an awful lot like mansplaining.

A couple of users pointed out that women did know who Anthony was, thank you very much. In fact, her grave was visited by a lot of people on the day of the 2016 general election.

Today Trump asked a group of women "Have you heard of Susan B. Anthony?" This is her grave after the 2016 election. Yeah, we've heard of her pic.twitter.com/U2RWnZLpAX
— O General My General (@rideatdawn) March 29, 2017

Pretty sure most women have heard of Susan B. Anthony @realDonaldTrump . She was stronger than you'll ever be. #LoserinChief #DontheCon pic.twitter.com/D65EyyiIE1
— MamaKat (@bookkitten) March 30, 2017

"Have you heard of Susan B. Anthony?" -the President of the United States to a bunch of goddamn grown women. pic.twitter.com/4g77xvsvjY
— Talia (@2020fight) March 30, 2017

Some people gave a quick and dirty history lesson to Trump.

Susan B. Anthony so hard, they put her face on a coin instead of a bill, because paper's too soft. pic.twitter.com/CsqJQqDq42
— Matt Lipton (@mattliptoncomic) March 29, 2017

"Organize, agitate, educate must be our war cry. " Susan B. Anthony. Just in case you haven't heard of her. pic.twitter.com/UZZUhQdjVk
— Gina Ventre (@gventre1) March 30, 2017

Other users just poked fun at the president's question, because it sounded eerily similar to when he mentioned Frederick Douglass during an event kicking off Black History Month back in February. At the time, Trump was mocked because it seemed he had no idea who Douglass was or even that he was dead.

"Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody who’s done an amazing job and is getting recognized more and more, I notice," he said.

Do you think Trump knows Susan B. Anthony & Frederick Douglass were friends? Worked together on universal suffrage? (Knows who they were?) https://t.co/fY5Zi171wO
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) March 29, 2017

In these troubling times, thing that keeps me going is hearing about amazing work Susan B. Anthony & Frederick Douglass are doing.
— Cliff Schecter (@cliffschecter) March 29, 2017

I bet you could convince Trump that Susan B. Anthony was famous for dating Frederick Douglas.
— Girls Really Rule. (@girlsreallyrule) March 30, 2017

There was inevitably a joke about Anthony trending on Twitter.

I saw Susan B. Anthony was trending and I was worried she had died.
— McNeil (@Reflog_18) March 29, 2017

And understandably, some people were just in awe at the absurdity of it all. 2017, man.

Is this real life https://t.co/MaxsF2Swta
— Josh Billinson (@jbillinson) March 29, 2017

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