For most of her presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton has had trouble securing the women vote, but Republican candidate Donald Trump might have just handed her the demographic she needed to win.
In the last presidential debate, Trump stated he was the best candidate for women, but his recent decline in polls suggest women do not agree. These remarks, of course, come following the emersion of a 2005 video in which Trump made several lewd comments about women.
“When you’re a star, they let you do it,” Trump said in the video referring to having sexual relations with women without permission.
Trump also admits to spying on the contestants of the Miss America pageant he hosts. Trump’s remarks have caused many people to call the candidate a perpetrator of sexual harassment.
Although the candidate and his team was quick to label this conversation an isolated incident and “locker-room talk,” many journalists pointed to Trump’s misguided views on women and women’s issues. In March, Trump advocated for “some form of punishment” for women who have abortions. In September, he called former Miss America winner Alicia Machado “Miss Piggy.” In the last debate, Trump called Clinton a “nasty woman.”
In 2015, he insulted former Republican candidate rival Carly Fiorina and said: “Look at that face. Would anyone vote for that?”
Past discrepancies include rating “Apprentice” contestants’ looks behind closed doors, calling Megyn Kelly a “bimbo,” calling Arianna Huffington “extremely unattractive” and saying New York Times columnist Gail Collins had “the face of a dog.”
Trump’s offensive comments against women have left young female voters enraged and alienated. Pro-feminism groups Hollaback and Everyday Sexism Project have both publicly denounced the candidate. Twitter exploded with a #YesAllWomen moment that encouraged females on Twitter to write about their experiences with harassment, catcalling, groping or molestation.
These opinions have carried over into the U.S. legislatures. In the Senate, five out of six Republican women have condemned the candidate. In the House of Representatives, one-third of Republican women lawmakers have withdrawn support.
The other key demographic Trump has alienated is millenials. Many young adults are casting their first vote this November and, based on polls, many of them will vote Clinton. A survey published this past Monday by Harvard’s Institute of Politics, found Clinton holds a 36 point advantage over her opponent in adults from age 18 to 29.
While the loss of millennial votes may be attributed to variety of his remarks Plattsburgh student and gender women’s studies major Steffaney Wilcox will not be voting for Trump specifically because of his views on women.
“These comments make it clear that Trump does not value the work of women, in the public or private sphere, ” Wilcox said.
Wilcox also worries that a Trump presidency will perpetuate an unsafe environment for women.
“Since Trump is someone in the public eye, his comments and action excuse the comments and actions of other, further creating a system of oppression of women,” she said.
When Trump expresses these troubling views against women and millennials he is alienating two groups with one stone. Women outnumber men in all but 9 states in the U.S. and millennials make up the second largest voting body. With two weeks left until Election Day, many political analyst have called the election over for Trump.
Email Taylor Richardson at cp@cardinalpointsonline.com
