December 17, 2005

When the job interviewer says "I bet you make a great wife."

Either you're in the room with an outrageously clueless interviewer... or you're on a reality show:
Q: Once, when you were defending yourself in the boardroom, Trump interrupted you and said, "I bet you make a great wife." Although that never aired, did his comment bother you?

A: I was a little bit offended by that. (Later, off camera), I stopped him and said, "That day when I was in the boardroom, why did you say that?"

He looked at me and said, "Well, which are you: A good wife or a good businesswoman?"

I was flabbergasted. I said, "I'm both . . . I strive for balance."

He said, "This is great dialog. Let's get a camera in here." He has an agenda.
Inappropriate as Trump's question was, it made some sense, didn't it? A disturbing amount of sense, actually, don't you think?

8 comments:

reader_iam said...

You'd have to be The Donald to get away with that.

That's actually offensive to me--and I don't generally offend very easily over things, especially like that. But the setting ...

What a turn-off.

Ruth Anne Adams said...

Sometimes I think the better candidates leave early because they're not telegenic or great drama, but just good people. Too bad for The Donald. He could use more real people, I think.

btw: my brother was a still photographer on the last season of 'The Apprentice' and 'The Contender'. With Trump, what you see is who he is.

SWBarns said...

I think Trump believes you can't be both because he is an utter failure as a husband (3X?) and father.

It would be a real blow to his ego if he acknowlendge you could succeed in both.

Ann Althouse said...

I think what he saw in Jenthura was a woman who operates by playing up to men, pleasing them and expecting support from them. I disliked that about her, and I dislike it about Trump that he thinks that's how wives should be. Nevertheless, in the real world, many men expect wives to do that and many wives oblige.

Tom T. said...

Ann, to what extent would normal employment law apply to the Apprentice? Suppose Trump were to fire someone explicitly for discriminatory reasons that would give rise to a cause of action in a normal job interview; what are the rights of the fired contestant? Is it purely a matter of the contestants having signed away their rights to sue? And if that's permissible and effective, then why wouldn't every employer simply require applicants to sign away their rights to sue for anything that is said or done to them during the hiring process?

Freeman Hunt said...

The Jen in the article linked is not Jenthura; it is Jennifer W.

Jennifer W

Ann Althouse said...

Hmmm.... I don't even remember the other Jennifer. And Jenthura was so absurdly gushy about Randal in the finale. She was one of the contestants that I most enjoyed laughing at. The others who made for some great laughs: Markus and Alla and, in a much nicer way, Adam.

Freeman Hunt said...

I didn't remember her either until I looked her up. Would have been an appropo comment for Jenthura too.

Markus was probably my favorite for laughs. Especially the comment on one of the last shows when he said that Trump was intimidated by him!