Joss Whedon Criticized for Comparing Ivanka Trump to a Dog

"I guess it's OK to demean women as long as you don't like them or their husbands, eh?," said one Twitter user.

Joss Whedon is under fire for a tweet in which he compares Ivanka Trump to a dog.

The Avengers director, a vocal critic of Donald Trump, was tweeting about Jacob Kushner, Ivanka's husband and Trump's adviser. "Hey, keep your eyes on this f—ing prize too," Whedon wrote. "He's a Voldemort in training, & unlike the Pekingese he married under, can play the long game."

Some people responded to Whedon's tweets with additional criticisms of the president and Kushner, but others quickly leapt to the defense of Ivanka.

Hey, keep your eyes on this fucking prize too. He's a Voldemort in training, & unlike the Pekingese he married under, can play the long game pic.twitter.com/SNsuYdqlIp — Joss Whedon (@joss) January 24, 2017

"Just so we're on the same page here. You just called Ivanka a dog because you don't agree with Trump. Classy," wrote one user.

"The left used to be better than this. You used to be better than this," another added.

"Wow calling his wife a dog? I guess it's OK to demean women as long as you don't like them or their husbands, eh?" said a user, calling Whedon out for not supporting women with his tweet. This sentiment was echoed in this response: "This from the man who prides himself on being such a great feminist. Unreal. I guess just liberal women. Typical."

Whedon didn't stop his Trump-bashing though, focusing on the new president in his tweets going forward.

We have a dictator. Wow. We're THAT country now. — Joss Whedon (@joss) January 25, 2017

Trump will never get over the fact that what he won was basically the world's biggest participation trophy — Joss Whedon (@joss) January 25, 2017

On Thursday, though, Whedon returned to Twitter to clarify his controversial message, writing that his comment about a "Pekingese" referred to the president.

.@HuffingtonPost "the Pekingese he married under" refers to his ugly yappy father-in-law, not Ivanka. Can't believe I have to explain that — Joss Whedon (@joss) January 26, 2017

Jan. 26, 1:56 p.m. This story has been updated with Whedon's Thursday tweet clarifying his initial comment.