Republican strategist wonders if gay anchor 'disappointed a woman'

A Republican strategist who has spoken out against same sex marriage asked one of the few openly gay news anchors Wednesday if he had ever "disappointed a woman."

During a segment about female support for presidential candidates, Republican strategist Cheri Jacobus told MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts that President Barack Obama shouldn't try to bolster his poll numbers by condescending to women.

"Women need jobs," Jacobus stated. "We don't have to be off to a separate group and condescended to and talked to by the first lady. That's nice, but we don't need that. And we're disappointed in this president, and that's what's happened. We've been lied to."

She continued: "Thomas, if you ever disappointed a woman, you know how hard it can be to get back into good graces and regain her trust."

"The most important woman I'm disappointing right now is my executive producer, who's telling me that I need to be quicker," Thomas said with a grin.

Whether she knew it or not, Jacobus may have been on to something with her tone-deaf assertion. In a 2008 interview with The Advocate, Thomas admitted had felt the need to date a few women early in his career.

"I didn’t know how best to deal with that professionally, or personally for that matter," he explained. "I thought it would be a roadblock -- or a brick wall -- to advancement."

He said that after taking a job in a new television market, "I would automatically date a girl and have everyone at the station see it. We'd date for a little while and then I'd break up with them or do something to make them break up with me."

Jacobus is president Capitol Strategies PR and appears regularly on CNN, MSNBC and Fox News. In an op-ed for The Hill in 2009, she argued that "bullies" were trying to legalize same sex marriage.

Watch this video from MSNBC's News Live, broadcast Nov. 14, 2011.