--- title: Corey Lewandowski Said James Comey Wasn't 'Man Enough' description: Find out what Corey Lewandowski said about how former FBI James Comey's testimony indicated that he wasn't "man enough." canonical: https://time.com/4812546/corey-lewandowski-man-enough-comey/ author: Samantha Cooney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-09T17:59:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:05:43.145Z og:title: Corey Lewandowski Apparently Didn’t Get the ‘Man Enough’ Memo og:description: He’s continuing to perpetuate a damaging stereotype about masculinity og:url: https://time.com/4812546/corey-lewandowski-man-enough-comey/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4bd76650daf1480a/6988d1130a4a2277f59ce8eb/corey-lewandowski-man-up.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: Political And Business Visitors At Trump Tower During President-Elect's Transition To The White House og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Corey Lewandowski Apparently Didn’t Get the ‘Man Enough’ Memo twitter:description: He’s continuing to perpetuate a damaging stereotype about masculinity twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4bd76650daf1480a/6988d1130a4a2277f59ce8eb/corey-lewandowski-man-up.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Corey Lewandowski Apparently Didn’t Get the ‘Man Enough’ Memo > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays to 40,000 subscribers as of August 2026. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters.  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Jun 9, 2017 5:59 PM UTC  Corey Lewandowski, former campaign manager for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, arrives at Trump Tower in New York, U.S., on Monday, Nov. 28, 2016\. Trump is considering retired General David Petraeus to be secretary of state and plans to meet with the former CIA director Monday in New York, according to a senior official with the transition. Photographer: Anthony Behar/Pool via Bloomberg Corey Lewandowski, former campaign manager for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, arrives at Trump Tower in New York, U.S., on Monday, Nov. 28, 2016\. Trump is considering retired General David Petraeus to be secretary of state and plans to meet with the former CIA director Monday in New York, according to a senior official with the transition. Photographer: Anthony Behar/Pool via Bloomberg Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Jun 9, 2017 5:59 PM UTC [Corey Lewandowski](http://motto.time.com/4436609/cnn-beyonce-trump-birther/), the former campaign manager to President Donald Trump, perpetuated a problematic stereotype about masculinity while discussing [James Comey](http://time.com/4809228/comey-testimony-donald-trump/?iid=sr-link3)’s Congressional testimony. During [his testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday](http://time.com/4811175/comey-testimony-donald-trump-highlights/?iid=sr-link1), Comey said he authorized a friend to [leak a memo](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/16/us/politics/james-comey-trump-flynn-russia-investigation.html) to the New York _Times_ detailing a conversation where President Trump allegedly asked him to end the FBI’s investigation into his then-national security advisor Michael Flynn’s [interactions with Russia.](http://time.com/4775114/senate-subpoena-michael-flynn-donald-trump-russia/) Comey said [he didn’t do it](http://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/08/full-text-james-comey-trump-russia-testimony-239295) himself because he was worried about it causing a media frenzy. But, during an [interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vDz2vy9l-c) on the Today Show on Friday, Lewandowski said that Comey simply wasn’t masculine enough to do it himself. “He gave his notes to a Columbia Law Professor because he wasn’t man enough to give his notes directly to the media because he wanted them out to the media,” Lewandowski [said. ](http://www.today.com/video/corey-lewandowski-james-comey-s-credibility-is-zero-right-now-963749955562) > [](https://twitter.com/TODAYshow/status/873136561730224128) It’s not the first time the Trump circle has perpetuated [the stereotype of masculinity ](http://motto.time.com/4273865/donald-trump-toxic-masculinity/)— the [idea](http://time.com/4527277/jill-soloway-donald-trump-locker-rooms-toxic-masculinity/) that [“real men”](http://time.com/3728698/gender-stereotypes-boy-empowerment/?iid=sr-link1) are tough, aggressive and dominant. During the Republican primary, Trump gave his male opponents nicknames to suggest that [they were weak,](http://www.npr.org/2016/10/01/494249104/trump-and-the-testosterone-takeover-of-2016) including “[Little Marco](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p%5FltuXcOH4)” or “[Low Energy Jeb](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EW06MlHVxuQ).” He continued that pattern against Democratic nominee [Hillary Clinton](http://motto.time.com/4763690/hillary-clinton-misogyny-campaign-loss-donald-trump-james-comey/). He said she didn’t have [“the stamina”](http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/27/politics/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-stamina/index.html) to be president and that she got [“schlonged”](http://time.com/4158303/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-disgusting-schlonged/?iid=sr-link1) in the 2008 Democratic Primary. After the [release of a 2005 tape](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-recorded-having-extremely-lewd-conversation-about-women-in-2005/2016/10/07/3b9ce776-8cb4-11e6-bf8a-3d26847eeed4%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.9d8d0de81caa) that showed Trump boasting about grabbing a woman by the “p—” without her consent, Trump characterized his comments as [“locker room talk,”](http://motto.time.com/4524837/trump-assault-locker-room/) as if it’s normal for manly men to speak that way in private. Lewandowski was charged with [misdemeanor battery](http://time.com/4275043/donald-trump-campaign-manager-charged-battery-reporter/) in March for allegedly [grabbing](http://time.com/4255936/breitbart-reporter-corey-lewandowski-trump-violence-police-report/) reporter Michelle Fields. Lewandowski and Trump [denied](http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-today-show-corey-lewandowski-2016-3) Fields’ allegations. Lewandowski called [Fields “delusional” ](https://twitter.com/clewandowski%5F/status/708162663579144192)even as a [video corroborated her account. ](https://twitter.com/BNONews/status/714831620096790528)The charges against Lewandowski were [dropped](http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/13/politics/corey-lewandowski-donald-trump-charges-dropped/index.html) in April. Lewandowski was fired from the Trump [campaign](http://time.com/4374711/donald-trump-corey-lewandowski-leaves/?iid=sr-link1) in June but has continued to [serve as surrogate](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/trump-surrogate-corey-lewandowski-leaves-cnn-946722) for Trump. > [](https://twitter.com/Olivianuzzi/status/873179185803644931) Research has [shown](https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/benoit-monin-how-men-react-when-their-masculinity-questioned) that this type of talk is bad for both men and women. A [2015 study](https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/publications/manning-threatened-men-compensate-disavowing-feminine-preferences) from Stanford found that men overcompensate by embracing traditional male attributes, including aggressiveness and boasting about their number of female sexual partners, when others question their masculinity. Another [2015 study](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-genderroles-men-violence-idUSKCN0RP27P20150925) found that men who are made to feel “less manly” are [more likely to commit violent assaults](http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/early/2015/07/29/injuryprev-2015-041599). A [2012 study](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23136179) found that men who felt their masculinity threatened were more likely to blame the victim and exonerate the [perpetrator in cases of date rape and sexual assault](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/03/31/masculinity-traditional-toxic-trump-mens-rights/99830694/). Men [are less likely than women](http://time.com/2928046/mental-health-services-women/) to seek help for mental health issues, which have been stigmatized as [a sign of a weakness](https://www.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2014/aug/28/mental-health-stigma-depression). Men are also [more likely to commit suicide](http://www.newsweek.com/2015/02/20/suicide-men-305913.html), a statistic that some researchers [have linked to the pressure on men](https://qz.com/403508/men-are-committing-suicide-more-than-women-everywhere-in-the-world-why/) to conform to gender norms. [Many](http://time.com/4527277/jill-soloway-donald-trump-locker-rooms-toxic-masculinity/) have [said it’s time ](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/thinking-man/11724215/Is-man-up-the-most-destructive-phrase-in-modern-culture.html)to [retire gendered insults](http://time.com/3728698/gender-stereotypes-boy-empowerment/) like “man up” or “don’t be a p—” to work toward getting rid of [social stereotypes](http://www.ablongman.com/partners%5Fin%5Fpsych/PDFs/Brannon/Brannon%5Fch07.pdf) that dictate that there’s a right way to be a man or [a woman.](http://motto.time.com/4809639/abby-wambach-stereotypes-gender/) But it seems Lewandowski didn’t get the memo. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4812546/corey-lewandowski-man-enough-comey/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4812546/corey-lewandowski-man-enough-comey/"},"headline":"Corey Lewandowski Apparently Didn’t Get the ‘Man Enough’ Memo","datePublished":"2017-06-09T17:59:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:05:43.145Z","description":"He’s continuing to perpetuate a damaging stereotype about masculinity","url":"https://time.com/4812546/corey-lewandowski-man-enough-comey/","keywords":["motto","women"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4bd76650daf1480a/6988d1130a4a2277f59ce8eb/corey-lewandowski-man-up.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Cooney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4bd76650daf1480a/6988d1130a4a2277f59ce8eb/corey-lewandowski-man-up.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Political And Business Visitors At Trump Tower During President-Elect's Transition To The White House","caption":"Political And Business Visitors At Trump Tower During President-Elect's Transition To The White House","creditText":"Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4812546/corey-lewandowski-man-enough-comey/","name":"Corey Lewandowski Apparently Didn’t Get the ‘Man Enough’ Memo"}}]}] ```