Former New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson revealed in a column last week that she carries a plastic Barack Obama doll in her purse as a way to comfort herself in the Donald Trump era.
At the conclusion of a Guardian column expressing hope for a Democratic wave in 2018 and beyond in response to Trump, Abramson revealed the extent of her Obama fandom.
"It’s easy to look at what’s happening in Washington DC and despair," she wrote. "That’s why I carry a little plastic Obama doll in my purse. I pull him out every now and then to remind myself that the United States had a progressive, African American president until very recently. Some people find this strange, but you have to take comfort where you can find it in Donald Trump’s America."
Abramson also wrote in the piece it was "thrilling" to see the signs of a Trump rebellion beginning in Texas after Tuesday's primary results and pierce the GOP's hold on the south, where she said "religion, racism and love of guns have advantaged Republicans since Richard Nixon’s election in 1968."
Her conclusion was curious, given the night was a disappointment for Democrats who have long dreamed of Texas turning blue. Republican primary voters in the gubernatorial and Senate races far outpaced Democratic ones; Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) got roughly twice as many primary votes as Democratic challenger Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D., Texas).
During her tenure as the New York Times' executive editor, Abramson often waved off accusations of its reporting having a liberal tilt. The first woman to have the job, she lasted from September 2011 until her firing in May 2014.
It is unclear when she purchased the Obama therapy doll.