Donald Trump, attempting to make inroads with women who are deeply concerned about how he’ll further decimate reproductive rights in a second term, claimed this week that he is their “protector” and that on his watch, they “will no longer be thinking about abortion anymore.” Which somehow managed to be creepy, infantilizing, and a uniquely stupid take on abortion. A real trifecta!
Speaking at a rally on Monday night in Pennsylvania, Trump told the crowd, “I always thought women liked me. I never thought I had a problem. But the fake news keeps saying women don’t like me. I don’t believe it. You know why? They like to have strong borders. They like to have safety.” Shortly after, he told the women present, “You’re not going to be in danger any longer. You will no longer have anxiety from all of the problems our country has today. You will be protected and I will be your protector. Women will be happy, healthy, confident, and free. You will no longer be thinking about abortion.”
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There is so much to unpack here, starting with the idea that women will be “free” if the guy who took away the federal right to an abortion returns to power. Then there’s the claim that women will be “protected” by a guy who was found liable last year for sexually abusing and defaming a woman, and has a long history of disparaging women. (Remember when his response to Taylor Swift endorsing Kamala Harris was to declare “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” to his legions of followers? You should because it happened less than two weeks ago.)
But mostly, there’s the bizarre assertion that women will “no longer be thinking about abortion” when he’s president, because what the actual fuck does that mean? It presumably has to do with Trump’s attempt to tie immigration to rape—as he has done for years—and to somehow suggest that under his draconian immigration policies, rape and pregnancies resulting from rape will no longer happen. Which, once again, shows just how little he knows about women and why the right to abortion is important.
As people who are not Trump know, there are many, many reasons a person might “be thinking about abortion”—reasons that have nothing to do with rape* by the people he claims are destroying this country. Is Trump going to stop ectopic pregnancies from happening? Is he going to find cure for fatal fetal abnormalities? Is he going to ensure childcare is affordable so that a person who already has children can afford to have more?** Is he going to eliminate rape not just by the immigrants he demonizes but by people born in this country? Is he going to single-handedly stop all sperm from fertilizing eggs that don’t want to be fertilized?
In a statement published by The New York Times, a spokesperson for the Harris campaign said, of Trump’s claims, “women know better. He tries to tell us what to think and what we care about. We will vote like our lives depend on it this November.”
