House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) repeatedly called Hope Hicks “Ms. Lewandowski” during a closed-door hearing with the former Trump aide, according to a transcript of the hearing.
After the third time, she told Nadler, “Ms. Hicks. My name is Ms. Hicks.”
Nadler responded somewhat dismissively, “I’m sorry, Ms. Hicks. I’m preoccupied.”
Hicks and Lewandowski were rumored to be dating in the past, making Nadler’s comments particularly inappropriate.
Vice President Mike Pence’s spokeswoman Alyssa Farah slammed Nadler in a tweet, calling his apparent mistake “sexist garbage.”
“That’s sexist garbage. Hope was WH Comms Director before age 30 & is a senior exec at a major media corp. But of course Nadler tries to define her by gossip & innuendo — & assign her a man’s name when she more than made her own for herself,” Farah tweeted.
Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) told the Washington Examiner that his sources in the room noted how “old, pervy” Democrats pressed Hicks about her love life.
Hicks testified to the committee on Wednesday, after Nadler issued a subpoena for her to testify. The White House initially told her to ignore the subpoena, but allowed her to speak to the committee about her time on the Trump campaign but not about her time at the White House.
Democrats still repeatedly asked her questions about her time at the White House, which lawyers who accompanied her would not allow her to answer.
Several Democrats, including Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) claimed it was “obstruction of justice.”