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According to pre-election polls, Donald Trump has become extremely unpopular with women.
Who could have predicted that outcome?
Maybe a small clue was the 2005 conversation with Billy Bush, of Access Hollywood, when Trump was caught bragging about sexual assault, saying “When you’re a star, they let you do it,” according to a video obtained by the Washington Post.
In the video, Trump discusses his failed attempts to seduce a woman in which he says he needs to "use some Tic Tacs, just in case I start kissing her
You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it, you can do anything.
Grab them by the p***y, you can do anything.
Trump at the time apologised for the remarks after widespread criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike. He also recieved criticism from his wife, Melania, whom he had recently married at the time of the remarks.
In his apology at the time he said:
I’ve never said I’m a perfect person, nor pretended to be someone that I’m not.
But his sexist and offensive behaviour didn't stop there. Let's take a trip down memory lane and revisit some of the most egregious examples of Trump demeaning women.
Here are 16 times the president alienated an entire gender...
1. When he called Kamala Harris a “monster”
Following a debate between the two candidates for vice president, Mike Pence and Kamala Harris, Trump decided to weigh in.
Referring to Harris the next day, he said: "this monster that was onstage with Mike Pence, who destroyed her last night, by the way."
"I thought that wasn't even a contest last night. She was terrible. I don't think you could get worse," he added. "And totally unlikeable. And she is”.
Safe to say, referring to a prominent Black woman in politics as a “monster” didn’t exactly feel like a neutral phrase.
2. When he mocked AOC’s education
Trump regularly goes head to head with Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her qualifications for her job are one of his favourite topics.
He’s previously called her a “poor student” and in his latest attack, once again mocked her education.
Speaking at a rally last week, he said:
A great student of the environment — I don’t think she ever took an environmental course in college.
She did go to college, right?
In her response, AOC pointed out that she did – but it didn’t really matter and that Trump’s remarks were “classist”.
“I could say yes, but who cares? Plenty of people without college degrees could run this country better than Trump ever has,” she said.
“As much as GOP cry about ‘elites,’ they’re the ones who constantly mock food service workers, people w/o degrees, etc as dumb. It’s classist and disgusting”.
3. When he called his Black former staffer a “dog”
Trump hired former Apprenticecontestant Omarosa Manigault Newman as an aide in the White House.
However, Manigault Newman was fired and later said she believed Trump was undeniably a “racist, a bigot and a misogynist”.
Trump’s response was to call Manigault Newman – who is Black – a “dog” and a “crazed low life”.
"When you give a crazed, crying lowlife a break, and give her a job at the White House, I guess it just didn’t work out," he wrote on Twitter.
"Good work by General Kelly for quickly firing that dog!"
It follows a pattern of remarks by Trump that dehumanize women of colour.
4. When he objectified Kim Kardashian
Trump in 2013, in an appearance on Howard Stern:
Does [Kim Kardashian] have a good body? No.
Does she have a fat a**? Absolutely.
And if it weren't Kim, they'd say, "wow, I don't want to go out with her.
Who asked you?
5. When he implied all suburban women didn’t work
One of Trump’s most recent and revealing statements when it comes to his view of women, was made last weekend.
Speaking in an attempt to woo back women voters, after data suggested they were turning to his rival, Joe Biden, Trump claimed he was “saving suburbia” before announcing that his administration were "getting your husbands – they want to get back to work. We're getting your husbands back to work”.
Because women don’t go to work, right?
6. His remarks about Megyn Kelly
Trump, when questioned by Megyn Kelly in a Republican debate about his history of sexism, deflected, and later followed up his answer by appearing to support a description of the Fox News moderator as a "bimbo".
He then implied during a CNN interview that Kelly gave him a grilling because she was on her period, saying she had ""blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her... wherever."
7. His remarks about Arianna Huffington
He targeted the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post by criticising her appearance and making fun of her divorce:
This is partly due to the fact Huffington ran liberal media outlets that were vocal in their criticism of his vulgarity.
8. His remarks about Rosie O'Donnell
She's probably alright with that knowledge.
He also said that she was "disgusting, both inside and out" and that if he were running her show he'd "look her right in that fat, ugly face of hers and say, 'Rosie, you're fired.'".
He also said:
Rosie's a person who's very lucky to have her girlfriend. And she better be careful or I'll send one of my friends over to pick up her girlfriend, why would she stay with Rosie if she had another choice?
A man who rests easy in his ignorance of women's agency.
9. His remarks about a breastfeeding mother
While Trump was in court, during a lawsuit over a failed property project in Florida, lawyer Elizabeth Beck asked for a break.
Trump and his team objected, wanting proceedings to continue, but Beck pointed out she needed to feed her three-month old daughter, pulling out a breast pump to prove it.
Trump said in an outburst: "You're disgusting."
He then walked out of the room, ending proceedings for the day.
10. His remarks about Hillary Clinton
He has, on occasion, said that Clinton is not fit to be president because her husband had an affair.
11. His remarks about sexual assault in the military
In 2013 a study found that around 26,000 sexual assaults in the military went unreported.
Rather than look at the military justice system or root causes for assaults going unreported, Trump drew other conclusions:
12. His remarks about Carly Fiorina
During the race for the Republican nomination, he said of his rival candidate, a former CEO of Hewlett-Packard:
Look at that face. Would anybody vote for that?
13. His remarks about his daughter, Ivanka Trump
In 2006, he joked on national television that if Ivanka was not his own daughter, he would be dating her. Which is a little awkward.
Yeah, she’s really something, and what a beauty, that one. If I weren’t happily married and, ya know, her father...
In a 2004 radio interview, Trump told Howard Stern that he didn't mind if he called her "a piece of a**".
14. His remarks about Paris Hilton
During a radio interview with, who else, Howard Stern, Trump said:
Now, somebody who a lot of people don’t give credit to but in actuality is really beautiful is Paris Hilton.
I’ve known Paris Hilton from the time she’s 12.
Her parents are friends of mine, and the first time I saw her she walked into a room and I said, ‘Who the hell is that?’
Um.
He later clarified:
She's a very... Well, at 12 I wasn't interested. I've never been into that. They've sort of always stuck around that 25 category.
15. His remarks about a female contestant on The Apprentice
The contestants were arguing about who shouldn't be fired, and it was a particular argument between Poison singer Bret Michaels and former Playboy playmate Brande Roderick.
The Poison singer said Roderick:
got down on her knees and passionately said, 'I want to do this'.
The conversation moved on from this point, and after a significant delay Trump managed to mumble out his long-considered line:
It must be a pretty picture, you dropping to your knees.
Little wonder how the billionaire prune ever attracts women with such lightning wit.
16. His remarks about female reporters, and articles critical of his sexism
In a 1991 interview with Esquire magazine, Trump said:
It doesn't really matter what (they) write as long as you've got a young and beautiful piece of a**.
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