Analysis: Why Julia Roberts wants women to lie about Donald Trump

Hollywood star Julia Roberts is encouraging women to keep their votes secret from their husbands, infuriating conservatives.

At a rally on Wednesday, Donald Trump promised to be a “protector” for women. This was not unusual – the former president had said as much before. The surprise was that he admitted his aides had told him not to because it was “very inappropriate for you to say”.

“I said, ‘Well, I’m going to do it, whether the women like it or not, I’m going to protect them’,” the Republican said.

Kamala Harris declared that was “offensive to women in terms of not understanding their agency, their authority, their right and their ability to make decisions about their own lives”.

Donald Trump says he’s a “protector” of women. Picture: AFP

The Vice President’s running mate Tim Walz was even more direct, saying women were “going to send a loud and clear message to Donald Trump … whether he likes it or not”.

That may already be happening. Women account for 55 per cent of early votes cast in the battleground states, according to a Politico analysis, a statistic that has stunned Democratic strategists and put Mr Trump’s allies on edge.

The large number of women voting early in the US election has Republicans on edge. Picture: AFP

“Early vote has been disproportionately female,” conservative get-out-the-vote architect Charlie Kirk said, adding: “If men stay at home, Kamala is president. It’s that simple.”

Polls consistently show Ms Harris leads Mr Trump among female voters by about the same amount as he leads her among male voters. Given women historically turn out more strongly than men, this could be a crucial advantage for the Vice President.

Of course, we do not know who the early-voting women are supporting. That’s the way the secret ballot works – something Democrats are trying to take advantage of with a new ad.

In the voting booth, women still have the right to choose. New and important ad from @VoteCommon featuring Julia Roberts reminds women that no one will know who they voted for. Pass it on. pic.twitter.com/XALnryVPNm

— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) October 28, 2024

Narrated by Hollywood actor Julia Roberts, it depicts two women smiling as they fill in their ballots. When one of their husbands asks his wife if she made “the right choice”, she replies “sure did, honey”, before exchanging another knowing look with the other woman.

“In the one place in America where women still have a right to choose, you can vote any way you want, and no one will ever know,” the Pretty Woman star says.

Julia Roberts urged women to vote and to keep their choice private. “What happens in the booth stays in the booth,” she said. Picture: Getty Images

“What happens in the booth stays in the booth.”

Mr Kirk called the ad repulsive, disastrous, gross and nauseating, and ultimately “the embodiment of the downfall of the American family”.

“She’s coming in with her sweet husband, who probably works his tail off to make sure that she can go and have a nice life and provides for the family, and she lies to him,” he said.

“(Ms Harris) needs people to basically lie to their husbands.”

Marital secrets aside, however, these are the women Mr Trump keeps promising to protect – and there is a reason his advisers want him to stop saying that.