CNBC host Jim Cramer apologises for 'misogynistic' comment about Nancy Pelosi

People are furious after CNBC’s Mad Money host Jim Cramer seemed to echo President Donald Trump on Tuesday when he referred to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as “Crazy Nancy”... to her face, on live TV.

Discussing the next round of coronavirus relief measures, Cramer said: “What deal can we have, Crazy Nancy?”

Immediately after he tried to clarify: “I'm sorry, that was the president. I have such reverence for the office, I would never use that term.”

The house speaker tensely laughed and told Cramer: “But you just did, but you just did,” but she then said that she knew what the host meant with the remark.

Even so, the backlash was immediate.

“I have long argued that CNBC is as corrosive to our society as Fox, and here is Jim Cramer calling the Speaker of the House “Crazy Nancy” to her face,” Caitlin Legacki said on Twitter.

Others even called for his resignation, saying his comments were ‘misogynistic’, ‘demeaning’, and ‘disrespectful’.

Shaunna Thomas, co-founder and executive director of the group UltraViolet said Cramer’s “patronising and condescending bile” has serious consequences for the country and women who choose to run for political office.

“It’s time that CNBC takes steps to remove toxic misogyny from its airwaves, and that starts by firing Jim Cramer,” Thomas said.

"Crazy Nancy" is one of the nicknames Trump has taken to giving to his opponents – many of them women – to insult them.

Cramer did eventually fully apologise saying, “I made a very stupid comment,” later on Mad Money.

“It was a tongue-in-cheek attempt to make a point about the harsh tone about the negotiations in Washington but it fell completely flat and I apologise for that.”

Even so, it is clear Trump’s harmful rhetoric and name-calling has fully, unfortunately, become the norm.