# One Small Slap for Hand (One. Giant Slap for Womankind?) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 22, 2017, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-slap-for-hand-one-giant-slap-for-womankind/787239 "2017-05-22T22:01:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-slap-for-hand-one-giant-slap-for-womankind/787239/1 "2017-05-22T22:01:40Z")
Cnn is showing Melania slapping away the president’s hand while on the red carpet and leaving Air Force One in Tel Aviv. Q Is it photo shopped? Did that really happen? _cheap phone won’t post links_ Www.cnn/videos/politics/2017/5/22/melania-trump-awkward-moment-israel-orig-vstan.cnn/video/Playlists/melania-trump / ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-slap-for-hand-one-giant-slap-for-womankind/787239/2 "2017-05-22T22:32:56Z")
Here’s a [link](http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/22/politics/melania-trump-hand-swat-israel/index.html)that works (that one didn’t for me). The as-yet undefined gesture occurs around :19. How to define it? Swat, slap, love tap, low-five, The Diss, The Brush-Off, “Not here!”, “don’t try anything, buster!” How would YOU define it? ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-slap-for-hand-one-giant-slap-for-womankind/787239/3 "2017-05-22T22:36:49Z")
I’m thinking it was nothing more than her feeling it was possibly inappropriate to be holding hands in such a conservative place. No PDA, as it were. At the same time he was trying to make up for all that viral ‘leaving her ten feet behind’, that got so much play earlier. I dislike the guy, but this is just a silly tempest in a teapot to me. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2017, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-slap-for-hand-one-giant-slap-for-womankind/787239/4 "2017-05-22T23:40:25Z")
I love a good Donny-bash as much as anyone. (Checks link) Guess I’ll just have to wait for one. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-slap-for-hand-one-giant-slap-for-womankind/787239/5 "2017-05-23T00:30:09Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > I love a good Donny-bash as much as anyone. > > (Checks link) > > Guess I’ll just have to wait for one. Oh, who are you kidding…? Thats the hardest hit you can land on Tito-Cheeto without getting shot by the Secret Service… ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-slap-for-hand-one-giant-slap-for-womankind/787239/6 "2017-05-23T00:30:29Z")
Whatever this is,it is not relevant to Elections. Off to IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-slap-for-hand-one-giant-slap-for-womankind/787239/7 "2017-05-23T01:28:53Z")
Looks like a pretty ordinary unguarded human moment between two people that have been together for a long time. I got a giggle out of it, but not for political reasons. I’d have gotten a giggle out of seeing Michelle do the same to Barack, too. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-slap-for-hand-one-giant-slap-for-womankind/787239/8 "2017-05-23T01:33:28Z")
Honestly, it looked more like a high five (low five?) to me. Trump didn’t seem surprised by her response; if he had been expected her to hold hands and she unexpectedly slapped his hand away, I think he would have turned and looked at her. But he held his hand out, she gave him that slap, and they both kept on walking without any apparent surprise from either of them. This leads me to believe that slapping their hands together like this is a familiar gesture between them. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-slap-for-hand-one-giant-slap-for-womankind/787239/9 "2017-05-23T03:09:31Z")
She’s not accustomed to him grabbing her by the _hand._ ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-slap-for-hand-one-giant-slap-for-womankind/787239/10 "2017-05-23T03:35:17Z")
Wasn’t there another one of those, almost the same thing, around the time of the inauguration? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-slap-for-hand-one-giant-slap-for-womankind/787239/11 "2017-05-23T14:11:18Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > I’m thinking it was nothing more than her feeling it was possibly inappropriate to be holding hands in such a conservative place. No PDA, as it were. How does that explanation jibe with the handholding Israeli PM couple walking next to them? ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-slap-for-hand-one-giant-slap-for-womankind/787239/12 "2017-05-23T14:26:02Z")
Wellllll…some are claiming they actually signed divorce papers prior to the election that he wasn’t expecting to win. But then he won! Oopsie! Change of plans… [Link](http://us.blastingnews.com/news/2017/05/donald-melania-trump-divorce-papers-signed-but-not-filed-before-election-001718689.html) Yes, yes, possibly “fake news”, but it would explain all of the cold shoulder behavior from Melania we have seen. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-slap-for-hand-one-giant-slap-for-womankind/787239/13 "2017-05-23T14:36:12Z")
I’m trying to lip-read … “I’m not Ivanka you dirty old man” … ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-slap-for-hand-one-giant-slap-for-womankind/787239/14 "2017-05-23T14:47:43Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > How does that explanation jibe with the handholding Israeli PM couple walking next to them? I’m sorry, I thought it was a given that neither of them really, actually understand, what is or isn’t cool. I still think it’s probably what she was thinking. Rightly it wrongly, is not important. To me it looked a lot like when she nudged him to put his hand over his heart that time. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-slap-for-hand-one-giant-slap-for-womankind/787239/15 "2017-05-23T15:54:21Z")
One thing Trump likes to do is [grab](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7U3iiMG-Y4) someone by the hand and pull them close in, sometimes causing them to go off balance. It’s a control thing. He did it a lot when he was making appointment announcements. It’s a standard thing given in “How to be a Winnar!” type books. Melania was lagging behind, he wanted her to be closer, she didn’t want to be pulled in again. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-slap-for-hand-one-giant-slap-for-womankind/787239/16 "2017-05-23T15:58:36Z")
Hmm… in Saudi culture isn’t the woman supposed to be a step - or more - behind? So could this have been Trump trying to make a subtle protest out of a dominance play? Or is that too subtle for Trump? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-slap-for-hand-one-giant-slap-for-womankind/787239/17 "2017-05-23T16:05:36Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > She’s not accustomed to him grabbing her by the _hand._ We’re done now. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2017, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-slap-for-hand-one-giant-slap-for-womankind/787239/18 "2017-05-23T18:11:45Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Hmm… in Saudi culture isn’t the woman supposed to be a step - or more - behind? So could this have been Trump trying to make a subtle protest out of a dominance play? Or is that too subtle for Trump? A sledgehammer is too subtle for Trump. And I made the same mistake, they were in Israel at the time not Saudi Arabia. ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-slap-for-hand-one-giant-slap-for-womankind/787239/19 "2017-05-25T04:40:05Z")
I just watched the clip via the second link above. My interpretation is that he was looking forward while reaching back for her to take his hand and she was looking out at the crowd. Then she noticed and reached slowly forward to grab the offered hand but, just a microsecond before they connected, he got impatient, did a dismissive ‘well, forget it then’ wave of his hand and rescinded his offer. –G Just another view to throw into the mix. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-slap-for-hand-one-giant-slap-for-womankind/787239/20 "2017-05-25T11:41:20Z")
She felt something tiny, assumed it was a gnat, and slapped it away. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-small-slap-for-hand-one-giant-slap-for-womankind/787239.md?page=2)