Donald Trump says he will be the 鈥減rotector鈥� of women, whether they like it or not.
He鈥檚 campaigned with men who use sexist and crude language. He鈥檚 expressed alarm at the idea that wives might vote differently from their husbands.
And the former Republican president has suggested that Democrat Kamala Harris, who is trying to become the first woman to win the White House, would get 鈥渙verwhelmed鈥� and 鈥渕elt down鈥� facing male authoritarian leaders he considers tough.
In the final days of his campaign, Trump has stuck to a gendered worldview that his critics consider dated and paternalistic, even as he acknowledges that some of that language has gotten him 鈥渋nto so much trouble鈥� with a crucial group of voters.
Trump and some of his most prominent allies have peddled outright sexism.
Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, at an event with the Republican presidential nominee, likened Trump to an angry father providing tough love to a 鈥渂ad little girl鈥� who, as Carlson put it, was 鈥渋n need of a vigorous spanking.鈥�
Charlie Kirk, founder of the conservative youth organization Turning Point, which is playing a key role in the campaign鈥檚 get-out-the-vote operation, has said that any man who votes against Trump is 鈥渘ot a man.鈥� Kirk also has said wives who covertly vote for Harris 鈥渦ndermine their husbands鈥� 鈥� describing a man 鈥渨ho probably works his tail off to make sure that she can go and have a nice life and provide to the family.鈥�
On Saturday night, Trump laughed along with a crude joke about Harris, nearly a week after a speaker at his Madison Square Garden rally suggested the vice president was like a prostitute controlled by 鈥減imp handlers.鈥� As Trump repeated his claim, made without evidence, that Harris lied about working at McDonalds in her youth, someone in the crowd yelled, 鈥淪he worked on the corner.鈥�
Trump laughed, looked around and pointed toward a section of the crowd.
鈥淭his place is amazing,鈥� he said to cheers. 鈥淛ust remember, it鈥檚 other people saying it. It鈥檚 not me.鈥�
Trump has faced a persistent gender gap since Harris entered the race in July. Women are far more likely to say they鈥檙e supporting Harris than Trump 鈥� by a double-digit margin in some surveys.
That could be enough to prove decisive in what both sides expect to be an extremely close race that ends Tuesday.
Women generally vote at higher rates than men. In 2020, they made up 53% of the electorate, according to AP VoteCast. Among the nearly 67.2 million Americans who have already voted, about 53% are women, versus 44% men, according to TargetSmart, a political data firm.
鈥淭his is not a time for them to get overly masculine with this bromance thing that they鈥檝e got going,鈥� said Nikki Haley, who competed with Trump for the GOP nomination this year, in a recent Fox News interview. 鈥淲omen will vote. They care about how they鈥檙e being talked to. And they care about the issues.鈥�
Trump has not campaigned with Haley, who was U.N. ambassador during his administration, despite her offers to appear with him.
Trump has been aggressively courting men. Trump鈥檚 team has spent months trying to reach younger men, in particular, with a series of interviews on popular male-centric podcasts and appearances at football games and mixed martial arts fights. His campaign has been dominated by machismo, evident for example when former pro wrestler Hulk Hogan ripped off his shirt as he took the stage at the Republican National Convention and later at the Madison Square Garden rally.
The song 鈥淚t鈥檚 A Man鈥檚 Man鈥檚 Man鈥檚 World鈥� often plays at Trump鈥檚 events.
Trump was always expected to face challenges with women this year after nominating three of the Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, ending the constitutionally guaranteed right to abortion and ushering in a wave of restrictions across Republican-led states.
But his efforts to win women back have often landed flat.
Speaking Saturday in Gastonia, North Carolina, at his first of nearly a dozen rallies during the race鈥檚 final weekend, Trump acknowledged the blowback he has received for saying that, as president, he would 鈥減rotect鈥� women. He continued, nonetheless, to repeat the line as he insisted women love him and that he was right.
鈥淚 believe that women have to be protected. Men have to be, children, everybody. But women have to be protected where they鈥檙e at home in suburbia,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen you鈥檙e home in your house alone and you have this monster that got out of prison and he鈥檚 got, you know, six charges of murdering six different people, I think you鈥檇 rather have Trump.鈥�
Trump鈥檚 campaign believes his focus on crime and illegal immigration will help him win over 鈥渟ecurity moms.鈥� At his rallies, he has featured the stories of mothers whose children were killed by people in the country who are in the United States illegally. That includes Alexis Nungaray, whose 12-year-old daughter, Jocelyn, was killed by two suspected Venezuelan gang members.
The campaign also believes that Trump鈥檚 frequent denunciation of transgender rights holds sway.
In Salem, Virginia, on Saturday, Trump brought to the stage female athletes from Roanoke College, where a transgender woman had asked and then withdrew her request to join the women鈥檚 swimming team.
In a statement, Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt defended Trump鈥檚 approach. 鈥淲omen deserve a President who will secure our nation鈥檚 borders, remove violent criminals from our neighborhoods, and build an economy that helps our families thrive 鈥� and that鈥檚 exactly what President Trump will do,鈥� she said.
Several attendees at his rallies said they welcome Trump鈥檚 promise to be a 鈥減rotector.鈥�
鈥淚 want protection. I mean, we all do, right? We don鈥檛 want to feel like we鈥檙e not protected,鈥� said Kim Saunders, 52, a small-business owner who lives in Williamsburg, Virginia. 鈥淚t鈥檚 that scary feeling. So for me, it makes me feel really good to have someone protect me and a man protect me.鈥�
She said she could not understand why women would support Harris, but thinks men are drawn to Trump because 鈥渉e is that alpha male. And for me, I love the alpha male. I grew up with a dad that was an alpha male.鈥�
Donna Sheets, 51, a caregiver and self-described 鈥渄ie-hard Trump supporter鈥� who lives in Christiansburg, Virginia, blamed the debate around abortion for Trump鈥檚 struggles with women.
She said she knows people are sometimes turned off Trump by 鈥渁 personality I don鈥檛 care for. But seeing how he runs this country, that鈥檚 what should matter at this point. Because none of us are perfect.鈥�
Harris, meanwhile, has seized on Trump鈥檚 remarks, highlighting them in speeches and online.
The vice president has tried to address her own side of the gender gap, appearing on podcasts and doing interviews particularly geared toward Black men, a traditionally Democratic constituency where Trump appears to be making inroads. She was asked in an interview with CNN on Saturday whether she believes women will make the difference in this election.
鈥淚 believe all Americans are going to make the difference. And I intend to be a president for all Americans,鈥� she said.
Trump has pushed back on a suggestion by top Harris surrogate Mark Cuban that Trump does not surround himself with strong, intelligent women. Trump notes that he hired women to lead his 2016 and 2024 campaigns.
But as he has tried to undercut Harris, who is the first woman to be elected vice president, Trump has repeatedly turned to gendered language.
鈥淪he certainly can鈥檛 handle (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, President Xi of China. She will get overwhelmed, melt down and millions of people will die,鈥� he said Saturday.
On Saturday night, he repeated his claim that he is the 鈥渇ather of fertilization,鈥� awkwardly and falsely taking credit for a fertility procedure that was briefly outlawed in Alabama by a state Supreme Court ruling due to the overturning of Roe.
And at recent rallies, Trump, who was found liable for sexual abuse and has been accused by more than two dozen women of sexual misconduct, has noted female supporters in the audience and mused about how he cannot call them beautiful anymore.
鈥淵ou have to be very careful. Everything you say. You know, like there鈥檚 some women that are very beautiful in the audience. I would never say that,鈥� Trump said. 鈥淚f I said they were beautiful, that鈥檚 the end of my political career.鈥�
