Trump ridiculed for taking credit for rising number of Democrat women in congress

'Trump claiming credit for having more women serving in congress than at any time before is like the earthquake taking credit for the most rebuilding of a community,' says critic

Donald Trump has been ridiculed for taking credit for the number of women serving in congress in his State of the Union address.

The US president congratulated himself for creating a strong economy – saying women had particularly benefited from job creation.

“No one has benefited more from our thriving economy than women, who have filled 58 per cent of the newly created jobs last year,” Mr Trump said on Tuesday evening.

Several female congresswomen – many of whom wore white in tribute to the women’s suffrage movement – drew attention to themselves by pointing at themselves, standing up and applauding each other.

This included Elissa Slotkin, Chrissy Houlahan, Mary Gay Scanlon and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

“You weren’t supposed to do that,” Mr Trump said.

”All Americans can be proud that we have more women in the workforce than ever before,” the president said.

The world leader – who has a record of making demeaning comments about women – also directly addressed the record-breaking number of women who were elected in November’s midterm election.

“Don’t sit yet, you’re going to like this – and exactly one century after congress passed the constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote, we also have more women serving in congress than at any time before,” he said.

Mr Trump pointed and smiled at the large group of female Democratic representatives who chanted ”U-S-A.”

Although there are more women serving in congress than ever, the women are overwhelmingly Democrats, with the share of Republican women in the House having gone down since the last congress.

There were 23 Republican women serving in the House as voting members last congress, but that has now decreased to 13 this congress.

According to the Centre for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, of the 127 female voting members of the House and Senate in the chamber on Tuesday night, 106 are Democrats and just 21 are Republicans.

Mr Trump has been mocked on Twitter for what critics see as a bid to take credit for the growing numbers of women serving in congress.

Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat Senator exploring a presidential bid, said she was cheering for her colleagues serving their first term in congress after defeating Republicans.

“President Trump seems not to understand that the female jobs he created were Democratic women in congress,” she tweeted after the speech.

“Trump claiming credit for having more women serving in congress than at any time before is like the earthquake taking credit for the most rebuilding of a community,” quipped one critic.

“Trump taking credit for there being more women in congress is like the Fyre Fest guy saying “You’re welcome for the documentaries!!” #SOTU,” added another.

“Trump shamelessly tries to take credit for the fact that 'we also have more women serving in the congress than ever before'. (They’re almost all Democrats who are not fans of his.),” said one more.

But others noted Mr Trump was perhaps actually able to take credit for the mounting number of women in congress – noting many threw their hats into the ring to oppose his presidency.

“Trump deserves credit for the influx of women to congress. They all ran to oppose him. (And virtually all are Dems),” said one Twitter user.

The celebrations in congress on Tuesday were fleeting – with the president later calling on congress to pass a bill that would end late-term abortion. The same women who had moments before enjoyed gains referred to by Mr Trump looked ahead in silence.