Here’s what to expect from Trump’s "Women’s Empowerment Tour," based on his sexist quotes
On Saturday, Lara Trump, Donald Trump's daughter-in-law, announced the launch of the "Trump-Pence Women's Empowerment Tour" — perhaps the GOP candidate's most concerted bid for women's votes yet.
Naturally, Lara Trump and her team — campaign spokesperson Katrina Pierson, campaign director of African-American outreach Omarosa Manigault and YouTube stars Diamond and Silk — have only the vaguest suspicion as to what a "Women's Empowerment Tour" would actually entail.
"We really don't have any idea what we're doing, except we said, 'We've got to go out and tell people what a great guy Donald Trump is,'" Lara Trump told a crowd in Bellville, Ohio, according to Politico.
As of July, 59% of female voters reported that they would vote for Hillary Clinton over Trump, creating one of the largest gender gaps in recent election history. Trump has similarly struggled with the black vote, claiming as little as 0% of the black vote in states including Pennsylvania and Ohio months ago — which is likely why Lara Trump made sure to call out the four black women at the helm of the tour.
"If you look at the makeup of our tour, we have a very diverse group here, the majority of ladies are African-American," Lara Trump told Politico. "It speaks to who Donald Trump is, these are all women he's touched in very different ways."
But considering Trump's track record with women, to say he's empowered them doesn't exactly hit the mark. Here's a brief history of things the presidential candidate has said about women:
On former GOP candidate Carly Forina
"Look at that face. Would anyone vote for that?"
On Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly
"She is so average in every way, who the hell wants to woo her!"
On sexual harassment in the workplace
When commenting on the sexual harassment allegations against Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, Trump said if his daughter Ivanka had found herself in the same situation, he'd expect her to "find another career or find another company."
(Eric Trump, of course, added, "Ivanka is a strong, powerful woman, she wouldn't allow herself to be objected to it.")
On his expectations of a wife
"Putting a wife to work is a very dangerous thing," Trump said in a 1994 interview with ABC News. During the same sit-down, Trump also remarked, "When I come home and dinner's not ready, I go through the roof."
On abortion
In a March interview with MSNBC, Trump said he supported "some form of punishment" for women who receive abortions. Trump later retracted his statement, saying it is providers who should be punished — not women. But the record stands.
On women's bodies
"A person who is very flat-chested is very hard to be a 10," Trump once said on The Howard Stern Show.
On Hillary Clinton
In addition to repeatedly calling Clinton "crooked" and saying she "doesn't have that strength and stamina" to defeat terrorism, Trump said last week that she simply doesn't have the "presidential look."
Perhaps because, up until President Barack Obama, the "presidential look" has consisted solely of "white" and "male."
Of course, some people suggest Trump's poor showing with women is all due to liberals' unfair criticism of him.
"The left has successfully branded Donald Trump as intolerant," GOP consultant Mark Weaver told Politico. "I'm not saying it's true, I'm saying the branding has been successful. College-educated suburban women don't like intolerance."
Here's to Trump's rebranding!
