Donald Trump often has described himself as a protector of women, but he took his guarantee a step further at a rally in Wisconsin. "I'm going to do it, whether the women like it or not,'" Trump said on Wednesday, per the Guardian. "I'm going to protect them." Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign noticed the lack of choice in his statement. "Donald Trump thinks he should get to make decisions about what you do with your body," Harris posted on X. "Whether you like it or not."
Polls already showed Trump trailing Harris among female voters, and a new CBS News poll shows a 10-point gap. He has a lead among men. Trump's statement, apparently meant to come across as paternal, ran the risk of instead reminding voters of his history of misogynistic statements and the civil court case in which he was found liable for sexual abuse, per the New York Times. A Trump campaign spokeswoman responded with a statement asking, "Why does Kamala Harris take issue with President Trump wanting to protect women, men, and children from migrant crime and foreign adversaries?"
On Thursday, the Democratic nominee told reporters Trump's comment was "very offensive to women in terms of not understanding their agency, their authority, their right and their ability to make decisions about their own lives, including their own bodies," per Politico. She then added, "It's offensive to everybody, by the way." The candidates' supporters weighed in at rallies Thursday, per the AP:
- For Trump: In Albuquerque, Sarah Pyle, 41, said Trump's opposition to transgender athletes competing in women's events shows he helps women. "I don't want my girls to grow up in a world like this," Pyle said. "We fought for women's rights for so long, and now we're giving them back to men. It makes no sense."
- For Harris: In Phoenix, Edison Kinlicheenie, 50, noted Trump's history and said he sees the Republican nominee as more of a threat than a protector. "I have a wife and a daughter, so I wouldn't let no predator like that come around" them, Kinlicheenie said.
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