President Donald Trump may have thought pardoning Susan B. Anthony would increase his popularity with female voters, but it looks like Twitter users are not impressed.
On Tuesday, the president said he would pardon Anthony, a leader in the women’s suffrage movement who was arrested and charged a $100 fine in 1872 after voting illegally.
As journalist Aaron Rupar pointed out, the announcement was so left-field that the first reaction among those in attendance was giggles.
Although Anthony is a key figure in American history, The New York Times points out that she is considered an “increasingly divisive figure” who was “adopted by anti-abortion forces and criticized for relegating Black suffragists to the sidelines.”
Many Twitter users thought the president should be focused on more pressing needs.
Some thought it was simply an empty gesture.
Others thought Trump was insulting the intelligence of women voters.
Still, some people couldn’t help but imagine how the decision to pardon Anthony came about.
One woman pointed out that pardoning a woman for illegally voting in 1872 isn’t as important as ensuring equitable voting rules in 2020.
One guy predicted Trump would quickly regret his decision to pardon Anthony.
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