On Friday at the White House was a young black leadership summit organized by the stridently pro-Trump organization Turning Point USA.

Donald Trump lavished praise on its leaders, in particular Candace Owens, a young African American woman and social media dynamo who denounces Democrats and the media as racist.

Trump claimed that he spotted her star power three or four years ago. “I saw this woman on television I said, ‘Man, I don’t want to mess with her. She’s tough. She’s tough.’ Now, I’m not allowed to say it, you know that.”

But go on. Just this once.

“I’m not allowed to say it any more, but she’s also beautiful,” Trump said, arms outstretched, palms open, as the room erupted in laughter. “It’s true. Under the #MeToo generation we’re not allowed to say it. So all of you young brilliant guys, never, ever call a woman beautiful, please.

“You’re not allowed to do it and I’ve kept doing it and I’ve never been told by that woman never to do it.”

Trump invited Owens to take the stage and she returned the compliment with flattery that would make the Ukrainian president envious. “You know, I was thinking,” she said, standing at the podium with the presidential seal, “every single president that comes into office, after two years they look so much older. He seems to be the only president that’s getting younger!”

Trump beamed and said, “That’s true!” The vice-president, Mike Pence, standing a short distance behind, smiled beatifically. Yet Owens wasn’t done. “He has somehow found the fountain of youth. I think he gets up out of bed – it’s the fight. He loves the fight, he really does. We are so blessed.

WATCH:

lol pic.twitter.com/756lCGwp38

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 4, 2019