Donald Trump, who in recent months has tried to brand himself as a champion for women, went on a tirade against Kamala Harris and the hosts of “The View” on Tuesday, insulting the women in personal terms and mocking their intelligence.
In a post on Truth Social responding to Harris’ interview on the daytime talk show, Trump called his Democratic opponent a “dummy” and referred to the hosts as “degenerates” and “dumb women.” He railed against Harris for saying that she would not have done anything different than President Joe Biden in his term, calling it “her dumbest answer so far.”
Trump’s attacks on Harris and the hosts of “The View” are especially notable in light of his recent attempts to win over female voters, a crucial and diverse voting bloc. (Harris continues to poll better among women than Trump, which may be due in part to a recent leftward shift among younger women in America.) He has tried to cast himself as a champion of women’s rights and a “protector” of women, who he says feel “abandoned” and “lonely.”
“Women will be healthy, happy, confident and free,” Trump said at a rally in Pennsylvania in September. “You will no longer be thinking about abortion.”
Trump’s pitch is considerably at odds with his personal and political track record. As he demonstrated in his Truth Social post on Tuesday, Trump is quick to denigrate women, especially women who oppose him and women of color, and he often brings up gender as a line of attack. As president, he oversaw the undoing of abortion rights and has taken credit for it. He has been recorded making crude comments about sexually assaulting women; he has been found liable of sexual abuse in a New York civil court; and he has faced a number of sexual misconduct allegations from women in his past, all of which he denies.