President Trump’s perpetually mocked hands were the punchline of a wry one-liner delivered Monday evening by British Prime Minister Theresa May.
Ms. May was being met with a round of applause while addressing donors at a lavish fundraising ball in London late Monday when she made a tongue-in-cheek comment about Mr. Trump’s hands, The Telegraph reported first Tuesday.
“I don’t think I have received such a big hand since I walked down the colonnade at the White House,” the prime minister reportedly told attendees.
Indeed, Ms. May was photographed walking hand-in-hand with Mr. Trump during her visit to Washington last month – a “chivalrous gesture” on the president’s part, according to Downing Street.
“If you watch the video, they’re walking along and there is an unseen ramp. He offered his hand, which she took as they stepped down the ramp,” Ms. May’s spokeswoman told British media afterwards.
Hardly a week later, however, the prime minister parlayed the gesture during Monday’s event into a poke at the size of Mr. Trump’s hands — a frequent subject of ridicule that has reportedly pestered the president ever since being labeled a “short-fingered vulgarian” in a 1980s magazine article.
“Look at those hands. Are they small hands?” Mr. Trump asked the audience during a Republican Party debate last year.
In spite of Ms. May’s reportedly successful meeting at the White House last week, British parliamentarians indicated Monday they have no plans to welcome Mr. Trump to speak in the prestigious Westminster Hall if he accepts the prime minister’s reciprocal invite to London.
“I feel very strongly that our opposition to racism and to sexism and our support for equality before the law and an independent judiciary are hugely important considerations in the House of Commons,” House of Commons Speaker John Bercow said Monday.
“I would not wish to issue an invitation to President Trump,” he said.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.