Donald Trump declared he will ‘protect’ women ‘whether they like it nor not’ and it went down with Democrats as well as you’d expect

Donald Trump’s latest bold declaration has lit a flame under his most furious opponents, who believe he crossed a line when speaking about women.

When Donald Trump pledged to “protect women, whether they like it or not” on stage during another rally overnight, onlookers around the globe knew exactly what was to follow.

We’ve seen this movie before.

Ever since his 2016 campaign, the Republican candidate and former US President has been seen as a archetype of sexist values in the eyes of the American left wing.

His brash comments regarding women throughout the years have lit a fire under activists, who believe re-electing the 78-year-old will be a giant step backwards for the nation.

The Republican Party’s historic policies on abortion, which have won many voters amongst America’s deeply-Christian right wing, runs opposite with the modern progressive values the Democratic Party has purported to defend.

So when Mr Trump took the microphone in Wisconsin and declared he was going into bat for women around the country, the Democrats pounced.

He repeated accusations that the Biden-Harris administration had “imported criminal migrants” into the US who will “assault, rape and murder our women and girls”.

Trump even admitted his campaign team had told him to refrain from saying “women” given the tsunami of backlash that would follow.

Mr Trump even admitted his campaign team had told him to refrain from saying “women” given the tsunami of backlash that would follow and acknowledged that the comments would be used against him.

“I hope you don’t make too much of it. I hope the fake news doesn’t go ‘oh he wants to be their protector’,” he said.

“Well I am. As president I have to be your protector.

“My people told me about four weeks ago, I would say ‘no, I want to protect the people. I want to protect the women of our country. I want to protect the women,’” Mr Trump said, adding that they told him it would be “very inappropriate for you to say”.

Just like in his 2016 campaign, Mr Trump has promised to be tough on illegal immigration, an issue that has rallied millions behind him.

But the comment about being a “protector” of women, coming from a man slugged with numerous misconduct allegations, was simply too much to bare for his adversaries.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who is fighting tooth and nail to turn the polls back in her favour, argued that his words revealed a fundamental lack of understanding of women’s rights and autonomy.

“He simply does not respect the freedom of women or the intelligence of women to know what’s in their own best interests and make decisions accordingly. But we trust women,” she said.

While Mr Trump’s position is firming with just days left in the race, he faces significant challenges in connecting with women voters, as Vice President Harris campaigns heavily on reproductive freedom.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who is fighting tooth and nail to turn the polls back in her favour, argued that Trump’s words revealed a fundamental lack of understanding of women’s rights and autonomy.

Vice President Harris made her case clear, particularly in swing states like Arizona and Nevada, as she appealed to women across party lines. The issue, she stressed, is about the right to “make decisions about their own lives, including their own bodies”.

The issue of abortion, tied in with Trump’s polarising personality and questionable filter, have proven to be one of the strongest points for the Democrats to pursue to the bitter end.

In a campaign ad, the Harris team aired a chilling juxtaposition: footage of a woman who became critically ill from sepsis due to complications during pregnancy is overlaid with Trump’s own words about “protecting” women.

Love it or loathe it, the man has no filter.

Meanwhile, Mr Trump has maintained that he appointed three Supreme Court justices responsible for overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022, a decision that has reshaped reproductive health across the nation.

Since 2022, the post-Roe landscape has resulted in uneven access to care across the US, with some women experiencing serious health consequences in states with strict abortion bans.

The patchwork of legislation has driven up maternal mortality and prevented access to life-saving care in some cases. Ms Harris argued that Mr Trump’s comments and his approach to reproductive rights “reveal how he truly thinks about women and their agency”.

As of now, early voting in key battleground states indicates 1.2 million more women have voted than men, according to TargetSmart. While this doesn’t automatically guarantee Democratic gains, Ms Harris hopes her platform will keep the issue top-of-mind as voters head to the polls.

In 2020, women were a critical factor for the Democrats, with 55 per cent of female voters casting their ballot for President Biden and Vice President Harris, according to AP VoteCast.

But we won’t really know until this time next week.

Originally published as Donald Trump declared he will ‘protect’ women ‘whether they like it nor not’ and it went down with Democrats as well as you’d expect