How Trump Has Used Debates to Belittle Women
Originally published by Jess Bidgood for the New York Times
It seems a strange twist of American history that the only man to have run against two female nominees in two presidential elections is one with a long and explicit record of denigrating women.
From the earliest days of his presidential candidacy in 2015 to a Trump Tower news conference on Friday, Donald J. Trump has repeatedly tried to attack, embarrass and threaten the women standing in his way — especially on the debate stage.
Mr. Trump has, of course, treated men with intense bellicosity, launching a blizzard of interruptions against President Biden during their first debate in 2020 and lobbing personal insults at the likes of Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz during the primary in 2016.
But a review of his onstage clashes with women shows how, over nine years in politics, he has honed a playbook of explicitly gendered attacks against both female candidates and journalists that he is likely to draw from on Tuesday when he debates Vice President Kamala Harris. Mr. Trump has used his physical presence and body language to intimidate women, made veiled threats, complained that they were uniquely mean and belittled their qualifications in a way that many women view as open sexism.
In fact, the first time he ever spoke of a female presidential candidate on a debate stage, it was to brag about the control he had over her.
“I said, ‘Be at my wedding,’ and she came to my wedding, you know why?” Mr. Trump said, answering a question about his previous donations to Hillary Clinton in the first Republican primary debate in 2015. “She had no choice, because I gave.”
The Trump campaign defended his treatment of women and female journalists during debates.
“Anyone running for President of the United States should be held to the highest possible standards regardless of their gender,” said Karoline Leavitt, the national press secretary for the Trump campaign. “President Trump has been a fierce debater against all the opponents he has faced — men and women — since 2016.”
His history of being physically and rhetorically hostile to women in these public moments exposes him to political risk and heightens the stakes of the debate at a time when his support among female voters in national polls is weak.
Mr. Trump has struggled to defend himself at debates against accusations of sexual harassment or sexism, denying and then deflecting questions about his treatment of women.