As I watch the dysfunctional Trump administration fumble, lie, and steal their way through four more years, I wonder what the press would say about a female POTUS who behaved the way Donald Trump is doing.

Actually, I don’t have to wonder at all. I know exactly what they would write or broadcast about a female president who acted like Donald Trump. So does every other woman who isn’t in the Trump cult—and it’s not a pretty picture. We don’t have to wonder because we have seen it happen to other prominent women and, sometimes, to ourselves.

Here are several areas where Donald Trump’s behavior is accepted because he is a man, but it would be reviled and condemned if a woman did it. In fact, I found so many of them, it will take two blog posts to detail them all. This is Post #1.

1. POTUS Starting a War

Over and over when Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris were running, we heard negative voices of both genders say, “I worry she’ll start a war.”

Let’s start by stating the fact that every war the United States has ever fought was started by men.

The American public has been sold on—and swallowed—the idea that women are so unstable we would start a war for no good reason. Just because. Or it’s the wrong time of the month.

This belief underlies much of the deep misogyny that makes electing a female POTUS challenging in the first place.

Millions of men believe that women can’t be trusted to hold this or any other high office. Women, after all, are famously volatile, so a woman is likely to do just about anything for any reason or no reason at all. Scratch the surface and they’ll admit it.

Well, now we have a President who did start a war just because—and he’s a man.

The Venezuela Endorphin Rush

Invading Venezuela and kidnapping its president gave Donald Trump a flush of triumph. It all went off without a hitch, even given that he and Pete Hegseth committed a war crime and nothing positive has come from it. He liked that endorphin rush and wanted another dose of it.

So, he looked around and saw Iran. Trump thought he could replicate Venezuela in Iran, get another boost and solve a Middle East crisis in one simple operation. He didn’t consider repercussions because he didn’t think there would be any.

Now imagine a woman taking such a delusional and impulsive approach to bombing another country—any country—much less one in the Middle East. She would be excoriated in the press as well as by many Americans for her lack of planning and foresight. They would be asking why a female POTUS didn’t consult with her national security team on the potential for Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz.

And worse. Much worse. But Trump? Crickets.

2. The Netanyahu Manipulation

Trump didn’t just spot Iran as a target on his own. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pointed him in that direction. On The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, former Secretary of State John Kerry said that Mr. Netanyahu had pushed several US presents to back a war on Iran. Former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Joe Biden all rejected his proposal, however, preferring to use diplomacy.

Trump was the only one so foolish, so ignorant of history, and so easily manipulated he actually did it. Experts warned him that Iran would likely close the Strait of Hormuz but he dismissed the idea.

A New York Times report stated that:

Now consider the reaction if a female president was influenced and bullied into doing something previous men in the job had resisted. The press would tar her as incompetent, weak and ineffective, What was she thinking? Was she thinking? And how can we trust any woman so easily swayed?

When Trump gets manipulated into acting against the country’s best interests, however, the press goes along with it. They normalize it. They act as if this is just another day in Washington.

3. POTUS Flip-Flopping on Issues

Donald Trump famously flip-flops on almost everything. He can change his mind in one day, a morning, or an hour. This year, John Bolton, Trump’s former ambassador to the United Nations, said:

“Trump can swing wildly on a given issue in the course of a day. He’s obviously swung from his position in the first term to regime change (in Iran). He could swing back.”

This month, Trump called the leadership of Iran “smart” in the morning and “scum” in the afternoon. Any woman so unstable would be labeled as downright dangerous and the Republican Party would be trying to implement the 25^th Amendment on national security grounds. For Trump? Crickets.

Men like to say that it’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind. This is patronizing and demeaning, so the press would never think of painting Trump with the same brush. It’s okay for the current POTUS to “swing wildly” in his positions, his language, and his opinions because he’s just Trump being Trump. Also, we all know he has no filter.

A Female POTUS As Fair Game

So, the press turns away as he demonstrates his lack of judgment and wisdom because that’s so much easier than taking a stand that’s unpopular with the administration.

There we have three significant areas when Trump’s behavior is accepted, normalized, or ignored but a female POTUS would be dragged through the mud on TV and in print.

Does the press realize this discrepancy in their behavior? How can they? White House reporters won’t even react when he calls a female reporter “Piggy.” Trump is untouchable but she’s fair game.

But wait, there’s more. Quite a bit more. This is just Part 1, remember.

Part 2 will come up shortly. Stay tuned.