Michael D'Antonio is the author of the book, "Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success" (St. Martin's Press). The opinions expressed in this commentary are his.

(CNN) In a single day, Donald Trump suffered a profound defeat in the Alabama special election in which Democrat Doug Jones rocked Republican Roy Moore, and the President lost a Twitter battle with New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.

These twin defeats find Trump failing both as a political leader and as the master of the social universe where, legend had it, he could not be bested.

The Twitter loss came first, as Gillibrand called for Trump to resign because of allegations of sexual misconduct lodged by more than a dozen women. How did Trump reply? With the Twitter version of sexual misconduct.

According to the President, Gillibrand would "do anything" for political donations. The senator responded with measured defiance, declaring she would not be deterred. In this #metoo moment, when women are pushing back so powerfully against sexual harassment, it was an easy win for Gillibrand.

Indeed, Trump made it easy for her when he sent press secretary Sarah Sanders out to tell reporters that their minds were "in the gutter" if you think Trump was saying the senator was willing to trade sex for cash.

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