Either the president had an itchy head or he was sending a message to an American astronaut who fact-checked him.
During ateleconferenceon Friday with members of the firstall-female spacewalkon the International Space Station, astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir, PresidentDonald Trumpdescribed the historic feat incorrectly as the “the first time for a woman outside of the Space Station.”
When, after a five-second delay on the long-distance call session, Meir corrected him, the president visibly reacted — then seemed to fix his hair using his middle finger.
“First of all, we don’t want to take too much credit because there have been many other female space-walkers before us,” Meir, 42, said. “This is just the first time that there have been two women outside at the same time.”
The brief moment was captured in avideoposted on C-SPAN’s YouTube channel, showing — at about the 2:15 mark — Trump scratch his forehead with his middle finger for about three seconds.
The White House did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
“I just want to congratulate you both. You’re very brave, brilliant women, and you represent this country so well,” Trump went on to say later in the conversation. “And our country is very proud of you.”
Donald Trump (second from left) in February 2017.C-SPAN
Donald Trump (left) in May 2017.
At aBlack History Month event in 2017, Trump used the finger to brush under his eye, then smiled to the cameras and other members of the room.
Another instance came in May of that year, this time during theG7 Summit, as he moved the finger to the left side of his face.
source: people.com
