Trump Says He Will Protect American Women 'Whether They Like It Or Not'

Republican men today are very upset about the prospect of women voting for Kamala Harris behind their backs. Jesse Watters, on Fox News, said that if he found out that his wife had voted for Kamala Harris, he’d divorce her. He said it was tantamount to cheating (I hope she is voting for Harris and cheating on him).

Charlie Kirk had a similar response on The Megyn Kelly Show, saying that it was “nauseating” for a woman “to undermine” her husband, who works so hard to provide for the family, and to do so reflects “moral decay” in this country.

It turns out there’s a reason that Republican men are worried that women are voting for Kamala behind their backs. We’re not the only ones “bed wetting” right now.

Alas, Trump gives women every reason to vote for Harris, with or without their spouse’s knowledge, by saying idiotic things like this like he did during a rally last night when he said he would protect American women “whether the women like it or not.”

That’s likely going to be the line of today’s news cycle. In these final days of the campaign, it almost feels like the campaigns are in a news cycle war of attrition. On Sunday, the Republicans said a lot of terrible things in Madison Square Garden. Harris grabbed the news cycle until Joe Biden misspoke and called Trump voters “garbage” (comments that Harris appropriately distanced herself from), and now Trump has taken it back with “whether they like it or not,” which clearly evokes comments he made on the Hollywood Access tape. The Harris camp was quick to respond:

Donald Trump thinks he should get to make decisions about what you do with your body.

Whether you like it or not. https://t.co/SdAFNcVrZc

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) October 31, 2024

Nationally, 53 percent of the early vote, so far, has been women. In the swing states, the gender gap is closer to ten points in early voting. We don’t know who all those women are voting for, and we don’t know how much men will close that gap on election day. However, in the closing days of the campaign, it probably isn’t good that racist jokes about Puerto Ricans and paternalistic misogyny are defining Donald Trump’s campaign.

The optics aren’t great, either. Look at him in the header photo! He looks like a traffic cone or, more appropriately for today, human candy corn. And during his stunt last night, where he drove around in a garbage truck, he could barely figure out how to climb aboard. This was all over my timeline last night (and certainly recalls the blistering editorial in the Las Vegas Sun this week painting a damning portrait of Trump’s cognitive decline):

Post by @gtconway3dg

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Meanwhile, despite what Trump continues to say, the economy under Joe Biden is good, per Bloomberg:

The US economy continued to expand at a robust pace in the third quarter as household purchases accelerated and the federal government ramped up defense spending. Hiring jumped by the most in more than a year. The numbers are so good that some are saying the magic “soft landing” has been achieved. Inflation-adjusted gross domestic product increased at a 2.8% annualized pace after rising 3% in the previous quarter, according to the government’s initial estimate published Wednesday. Consumer spending, which comprises the largest share of economic activity, advanced 3.7%, the most since early 2023 … “There is almost nothing wrong with this picture,” Carl Weinberg and Rubeela Farooqi, economists at High Frequency Economics, said in a note.

Will any of this matter? Maybe, but not much. The racist insults may have activated some Puerto Rican voters in Pennsylvania. Biden’s garbage comment only pissed off people already predisposed to vote for Trump, and even Trump’s misogyny was a reminder, not a revelation.

The polls have been remarkably steady. A number of pundits, who legitimately do not know more than anyone else, are saying now that it will probably break hard one way or another and that one of the candidates will win most or all of the swing states. None of the pundits know, however, which way it will break, and there’s evidence in the early vote to support either direction. I have a sneaking suspicion, however, that women aren’t lining up in bigger numbers than men to vote for Trump and that Liz Cheney campaigning for Harris and the public animosity between Trump and Nikki Haley in the last few days is going to turn a lot of Republican women voters into Democratic voters and tilt the election in favor of Harris.

But I also wouldn’t bet my lunch on Republican white women in the suburbs to save America. Ariana Grande knows what I’m talking about.