Keir Starmer today insisted he would ‘call out’ Donald Trump if he heard him brand a woman ‘piggy’.
The PM delivered a gentle rebuke to the US president during an appearance on ITV’s Loose Women this afternoon.
Mr Trump faced a backlash last month after responding to a question about Jeffrey Epstein from a Bloomberg journalist by saying: ‘Quiet, piggy.’
Sir Keir – who was appearing to launch the government’s strategy for tackling violence against women and girls – was asked by presenter Myleene Klass: ‘One of our closest allies, shall we say, recently used language ”quiet piggy”.
‘Would you allow for someone to speak to your daughter, your wife, your colleagues in the way that Trump spoke to a female journalist?’
Sir Keir responded: ‘No, I wouldn’t, I absolutely wouldn’t, I would call it out.
‘But I would also say part of the stuff we’re doing with teenagers is talking about behaviours they might not think are problematic but in fact are.’
Sir Keir has often walked a tightrope between criticising the US president, and trying to keep him on side.
On board Air Force One last month, reporter Catherine Lucey tried to ask Trump a question relating to Epstein before Mr Trump began waving a finger in her face.
‘Quiet, quiet piggy!’ he snapped at the journalist while she stood off camera.
The insult sparked backlash from Democratic political operatives and media pundits.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: ‘He calls out fake news when he sees it and gets frustrated with reporters who spread false information.’
Asked about his worst day since becoming PM, Sir Keir cited a moment that ‘really broke my heart’ on the day of Labour’s election victory last year.
He said: ‘We had the exit poll… and it said, Labour’s got a landslide victory.
‘I was with my team and my family. I jumped up and punched the air as I would if Arsenal had just scored a fantastic goal.
‘And my little girl, then 13, burst into tears and was inconsolable. And that ripped through me, these two emotions, totally through my body.’
