Trump tries to convince women to vote for him after calling Harris a ‘dummy’

With just weeks to go before the election, Donald Trump has sought to rewrite his record on women’s rights and cast himself as a “protector” who will save women from fear and unhappiness. However, his case is clouded not only by his long record of misogyny, but also by his ugly personal attacks on women.

In a long, rambling speech in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the Republican presidential candidate again insulted his Democratic opponent on Wednesday, calling Vice President Kamala Harris “terrible” and a “dummy.” He said he was told to hold back when criticizing Harris because “women won’t like it.”

“I said, ‘I don’t care,’” he added.

Trump also appeared to suggest that more women should support him because of what he claimed were gains he made in combating human trafficking — an issue he called “primarily in women” — while in the White House. As president, the issue was one of Trump’s top priorities, but experts have said his sweeping crackdown on immigration has seriously hampered the fight against human trafficking. Jean Bruggeman of Freedom Network USA, a coalition of service providers and anti-trafficking advocates, told Time Magazine in 2020 that the Trump administration ultimately chose to “ignore the needs of survivors and reward traffickers.”

Still, Trump insists he was good on the issue. “Four years ago we had the best border in the history of our country, and that included human trafficking, especially women,” he said. “So when women say, ‘Oh, I don’t know if I like Trump,’ I was the one — that’s the most horrifying thing. Human trafficking, especially women, gee, I wonder what that’s all about, right? “

Underlying Trump’s rambling comments is his approach to appealing to specific demographic groups: Trump is often quick to claim that he will defend a group’s interests and address their concerns, then in the same breath discredit them for not supporting him more support. He has used similar language when speaking to Jewish Americans, telling them he will be “your defender, your protector” while saying the Jewish people “will have a lot to do with it” if he loses the election.

Trump has also relied on the threat of imagined violence to win over women, a tactic he has resorted to for years. While trying to stoke anti-immigration fears last week, Trump claimed without evidence that people crossing the US-Mexico border are “taking young girls and cutting them up right in front of their parents.”