Nobody has more respect for women than Donald Trump – according to Trump.
But comments from the Republican presidential candidate over the years about women – their appearance and how he treats them – seem to stack up to a pretty damning case against him arguing otherwise.
“Unfit,” “liar” and “nasty woman” are just some of the names he hurled at his opponent Hillary Clinton during Wednesday night’s third and final presidential debate. But he didn’t forget his sexual assault accusers who he also labeled “liars” and alluded to them as fame-seekers.
So what does the word “respect” actually mean to Trump and does the term take on a different meaning for The Apprentice star when dealing with men compared to women?
According to associate psychology professor Ryne Sherman of Florida Atlantic University, it does.
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As for why that is, Sherman says a number of factors could be at play, including his need to assert his power and dominance.
“I think recent history and society say this is what dominant men do – they dominate over everybody but especially women and his behaviour has been consistent with this.”
Another factor could be his upbringing.
According to The Daily Mail, Trump’s mother Mary Trump (born Macleod) was a poor Scottish immigrant who worked as a domestic. She landed in New York in 1930 and eventually met and married her husband Fred Trump, an established builder and developer.
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“On the one hand if you have a mother who’s an immigrant you might learn he has sympathy for her but if he sees his mother as an immigrant who was only saved by his father, then you can imagine a scenario where someone could see his father as someone so strong, so powerful and dominant,” Sherman says. “So when he says things like he’s going to be the best president for women, then what he’s saying is he will protect them, be strong and dominate over them and that will be good for them.”
So when counter-stereotypical women like Clinton come along, the persona he’s projecting becomes threatened, says Sherman.
“She’s a strong, ambitious, dominant woman,” he says. “That plays right against what he’s going for, that he’s needed to protect women. But to see a woman who can stand up for herself and protect herself; that is counter to his vision for how the world should work.”
So does that mean Trump is insecure around women? Social sciences and political studies expert at the University of Ottawa Kelly Gordon thinks so.
“Often people that come out the strongest or are the most aggressive, it usually comes from insecurity,” Gordon says. “Hillary clearly gets under his skin and I wonder if that’s because he’s not really used to being talked to or confronted in that way particularly by women. He’s had a lot of great privilege and there hasn’t been that much push-back and I think when Hillary does that it really gets to him.”
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And whether it’s calling a former Miss Universe “Missy Piggy” or “Miss Housekeeping,” or boasting about grabbing women by the p*ssy and kissing them whenever he wants, the example he’s setting isn’t a good one for future generations, Gordon says.
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So what exactly has Trump been saying over the years that have many up in arms? Well, we couldn’t compile a list of everything he’s ever done or said about/to women, but here are just a few examples.
- May 1996: Trump calls former Miss Universe winner Alicia Machado names like “Miss Piggy” and “Miss Housekeeping,” because of her weight and Venezuelan heritage. He also forces her to stick to a strict diet and exercise regime for her to lose weight. He surprises her and makes her workout in front of a crew of cameras, which she says made her feel humiliated.
- 1997: According to The Telegraph, in his book Trump: The Art of the Comeback, Trump discusses the three types of women he believes exist. The first, a good woman who loves her future husband but refuses to sign a prenuptial agreement (he advises men to walk away and find someone else). The second is a “calculating woman” who refuses to sign a prenup because she’s expecting to take advantage of the man. The third is a woman who will quickly sign the agreement “in order to make a quick hit and take the money given to her.”
- 2005: A conversation is recorded behind the scenes of Trump and Access Hollywood host Billy Bush. Trump talks about trying to have sex with Nancy O’Dell, Bush’s colleague on the show, and said she had “big phony tits.” Other quotes include: “I’m automatically attracted to beautiful – I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. I just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything… Grab them by the p*ssy. You can do anything.”
- 2006: The attack on Rosie O’Donnell begins. Throughout the years he called her names like “a real loser,” and “a woman out of control,” and has commented on her weight and relationships.
- 2009: Carrie Prejean, former beauty queen, revealed in her book what other Miss USA contestants would come to know as “The Trump rule” where Trump would have the women parade in front of him so he could rate their attractiveness, The Telegraph reports.
- 2011: After Gail Collins, a New York Times columnist, wrote about rumours of Trump’s bankruptcy, The Telegraph says he sent her a copy of her article with her picture circled. Across it he wrote, “The face of a dog!”
- 2015: Called Fox presenter Megyn Kelly a “bimbo” and asked if she was menstruating during the Republican debate in 2015. He later argued that he was referring to her nose.
- 2016: Trump advises Twitter followers to check out Machado’s sex tape. He also calls her disgusting.
- 2016: He threatens to throw Clinton in jail if he becomes president. He calls her a liar multiple times and a “disaster as a senator.” He also continues to refer to his leaked Access Hollywood conversation with Billy Bush as just “locker room talk.”
- 2016: Trump calls Clinton several names, including that she is a “nasty woman.” He also called her unfit to be president, among other things.
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