Dan Savage's Hate For Melania Trump Continues, But Denies Bullying First Lady

Author and sex columnist Dan Savage denied Tuesday that he bullied Melania Trump but accused her of “winking at anti-Semitism.” On Tuesday, the anti-bullying advocate spoke out about the first lady during his “Savage Love” podcast, just days after calling her “as ugly on the inside as she is pretty on the outside.”

Savage admitted that he should not have said he hates Melania Trump, but he has a strong dislike for the things she has done, the Wrap reported. Last week, Savage said he is not alone in his views on President Donald Trump’s third wife.

“She’s married to a misogynist after all,” he said. “Odd are good her husband hates her too.”

Read: Why Does Dan Savage 'Fucking Hate' Melania Trump'?

However, during his latest podcast, he played voicemails from people who defended the first lady by accusing Savage of bullying.

“Bullying involves powerful people or a powerful person picking on a weaker person,” Savage said, calling the allegations absurd. “In the grand scheme of things, the first lady of the United States and the president of the United States, these billionaires with access to nuclear codes and drone technology? They are more powerful than a sex advice columnist with a podcast and a filthy mouth.”

Savage, who is an anti-bullying advocate, started the "It Gets Better Project" in 2010 with his husband, Terry Miller, aimed at raising awareness of teenage bullying. The project also involved former President Barack Obama, who made an appearance in a video.

On his podcast Tuesday, Savage criticized Melania Trump's response last year after Trump's supporters slammed Jewish GQ writer Julia Ioffe with anti-Semitic attacks after she profiled the then-future first lady.

“I don’t control my fans,” Melania Trump said at the time. “But I don’t agree with what they’re doing. ... There are people out there who maybe went too far. She provoked them.”

The president declined to stop his fans from using anti-Semitic attacks, saying at the time to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer: “I don’t have a message for the fans,” Savage recalled during the podcast. He added that Melania and Donald Trump's response signaled that “this kind of anti-Semitic abuse is okay.”