Donald Trump made his final pitch to American women on Wednesday, promising to protect them whether they “like it or not” — a blatant display of misogyny that’s on par for a man who has been found liable for sexual abuse, who routinely brags about ending the constitutional right to abortion, and who is surrounded by allies who are dead set on curtailing women’s ability to participate in society. His comments came hours after Beatrice Keul, a former Swiss beauty queen, became the 28th person to accuse the former president of sexual misconduct, telling the Daily Mail that he forcibly kissed and groped her in the early 1990s. Trump has denied the allegations.
The Republican nominee has sought to cast himself as a “protector” of women in recent months, promising that if he becomes president once again, they “won’t be thinking about abortion.” At a rally Wednesday near Green Bay, Wisconsin, Trump said that his advisers warned him against repeating this line.
“They said, ‘Sir, I just think it’s inappropriate for you to say.’ I pay these guys a lot of money; can you believe it?” he told the crowd. “I said, ‘Well, I’m going to do it whether the women like it or not. I’m going to protect them.’”
Finally, Trump’s said the quiet part out loud: He doesn’t care what women think. His total disregard for their humanity and autonomy is a character trait he’s shown over and over again throughout his decades in the public eye. His penchant for misogynistic remarks and behavior had been on display long before the infamous “grab them by the pussy” audio from Access Hollywood leaked in 2016, prompting more than two dozen women to credibly accuse Trump of sexual misconduct, assault, and rape. Even now, as polls show that most women voters do not support him, Trump has continued to make sexist and sexualized attacks against Vice-President Kamala Harris. The former president has amplified vulgar and sexual remarks falsely claiming that Harris traded sexual favors to get ahead in her career. He’s also called her a “stupid person,” “weak,” “dumb as a rock,” and “lazy.”
Despite his attempts at spin, a world where Trump sits again in the Oval Office is a world where women are not safe. Abortion bans have killed several women already and harmed many others who’ve become septic, lost organs, and been forced to carry pregnancies against their will. That includes children who have been victims of rape and pregnant people whose babies had no chance of survival and died shortly after birth. Trump unleashed this health-care crisis when he appointed three conservative justices to the Supreme Court with the explicit goal of overturning Roe v. Wade. If he’s elected again, he’s likely to go even further: Though Trump has claimed he won’t sign a national abortion ban, he’s also said that this is his thinking “for now” and “we’ll see what happens.” And Project 2025, the far-right transition plan conceived by dozens of Trump administration alumni, calls for more drastic action than continuing to cut off access to abortion. Contraception and fertility treatments are at risk, as well as programs that benefit women and their families like Head Start, Medicaid, Title IX regulations, and federal anti-discrimination protections.
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