Why Donald Trump is wrong when he says women have it easier
After sweeping five Republican presidential primary contests Tuesday, Donald Trump lamented his Democratic rival’s unfair advantage. If Hillary Clinton were a man, he said, she wouldn’t stand a chance.
“The only card she has is the woman’s card,” Trump said, which seemed to prompt a subtle side-eye from New Jersey first lady Mary Pat Christie. “That’s the only thing she has going. And frankly, if Hillary Clinton were a man, I don’t think she’d get 5 percent of the vote.”
The remark came off to many as sexist. Television host Rachel Maddow quickly responded on her MSNBC show, asserting Trump’s comments will further put off female voters. Seven in 10 women view Trump unfavorably, according to a recent Gallup poll.
“To say about the woman that you’re running against that the only reason she’s in the race is because she’s a woman, that her achievement is basically the result of some sort of affirmative action,” Maddow said, “and that as a human being she’s patently unqualified when she’s the former two-term senator from New York and the former secretary of state. … I do think that even Republican women will read that wrong.”
Katie Packer Gage, a Republican strategist who co-founded the consulting firm Burning Glass, said Mary Pat Christie’s facial expression matched her reaction:
“Our party could succeed with a candidate who would attack her policies and her failures while in office,” Packer Gage said. “But Trump is incapable of anything but personal attacks because he doesn’t seem to know anything about public policy.”
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Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a primary night press conference, Tuesday, April 26, 2016, in New York. Melania Trump listens at right. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, campaigns during a rally on Monday, April 25, 2016, in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. (Jake Danna Stevens/The Times-Tribune via AP)
FILE – In this Tuesday, April 26, 2016 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a primary night news conference, in New York. Trump’s highly anticipated foreign policy speech will test whether the Republican presidential front-runner known for his raucous rallies and eyebrow-raising statements can present a more presidential persona as he works to coalesce a still-weary Republican establishment around his candidacy. Trump’s campaign says his speech Wednesday will focus on “several critical foreign policy issues” such as trade, the global economy and national security. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson, File)
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a primary night news conference, Tuesday, April 26, 2016, in New York, as Melania Trump listens at right. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump looks out into the audience as he speaks during the Palm Beach County GOP Lincoln Day Dinner at the Mar-A-Lago Club, Sunday, March 20, 2016, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a primary night news conference, Tuesday, April 26, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)