Trump blasts Samantha Bee's 'horrible language' about Ivanka

Donald Trump wants Samantha Bee fired after her comments against Ivanka. Photos / AP

President Donald Trump, who once bragged that his celebrity status gave him a pass to grab women's crotches, asked why comedian Samantha Bee wasn't fired for using a vulgar, sexist term to describe his daughter.

Mr Trump tweeted that it was a "total double standard" that TBS hadn't cancelled Bee's show, Full Frontal after the comedian said Ivanka Trump was a "feckless c---" on immigration.

The president appeared to be referring to ABC's decision to cancel Roseanne Barr's show, a favourite among conservatives, after Barr jokingly compared a former White House aide in the Obama administration who is African-American to an ape.

"Why aren't they firing no talent Samantha Bee for the horrible language used on her low ratings show?" he tweeted on Friday morning (local time).

"A total double standard but that's OK, we are Winning, and will be doing so for a long time to come!"

Why aren’t they firing no talent Samantha Bee for the horrible language used on her low ratings show? A total double standard but that’s O.K., we are Winning, and will be doing so for a long time to come!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 1, 2018

It's the latest salvo in the US culture war that Mr Trump seems to relish. Across social media platforms this week, Americans hotly debated whether Bee — whose feminist style comedy often criticises sexism — was justified in using a misogynistic expletive to criticise Ivanka Trump.

Trump supporters noted that the term used by Bee would result in immediate pushback had it been aimed at a female Democratic official, such as Rep. Nancy Pelosi.

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My ♥️

A post shared by Ivanka Trump (@ivankatrump) on May 27, 2018 at 9:07am PDT

Mr Trump himself has repeatedly drawn fire for his sexist language and sexual boasting. A 2005 Access Hollywood video featured audio of Mr Trump bragging about how he grabs women's genitalia and gets away with it.

On the tape, the president talks about forcing himself on women, kissing them and groping them. Mr Trump eventually apologised for his comments.

The Samantha Bee incident also underscored the unprecedented role Ivanka Trump plays at the White House. While the children of presidents are often shielded from public jokes by comedians because of their age and because they aren't White House employees, Ivanka Trump has taken an active policy role as an adult in her father's White House.

I would like to sincerely apologize to Ivanka Trump and to my viewers for using an expletive on my show to describe her last night. It was inappropriate and inexcusable. I crossed a line, and I deeply regret it.

— Samantha Bee (@iamsambee) May 31, 2018

A close presidential adviser, she has promoted the administration's tax overhaul and led a US delegation at the Winter Olympics in South Korea.

Bee has apologised to Ivanka Trump and her viewers for using the obscenity. Her network, TBS, also said it was "our mistake, too," in allowing the language on Bee's show, Full Frontal. Her show is taped and not aired live.

Barr has separately apologised for her remarks.