MARCH 30, 2016
Photo: Getty
Donald Trump may claim that he “adores” women, but you wouldn’t know it by his campaign.
On Tuesday, Trump’s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, was arrested on assault charges after he allegedly yanked the arm of Michelle Fields, a reporter from the conservative website Breitbart, as she tried to ask the candidate a question after a Trump press conference.
Lewandowski had firmly denied he had ever touched Fields, but footage from Trump’s own security camera clearly showed the reporter being pulled back against her will by a man who appears to be Lewandowski. Ben Terris, a Washington Post reporter who was standing next to Fields, confirmed it was Lewandowski who grabbed her arm and yanked her. Once she brought charges, Fields, the victim in this case, was promptly fired by both Breitbart and Fox News, where she was a contributor.
Lewandowski, for his part, was praised to the skies by Trump, who said that the campaign manager was victimized by Fields’ accusation and questioned whether the bruises displayed by Fields in social media were already there before the incident. In fact on Wednesday, Trump even went so far as to say that Fields put her hands on Trump (which the security footage proves is untrue) and that he felt threatened because she was brandishing a pen. A pen????
Lewandowski’s arrest comes fresh on the heels of Trump’s back and forth with Ted Cruz about the comparative beauty of their wives, with Trump tweeting out a less-than-flattering photo of Heidi Cruz placed side-by-side glamour shot of Melania Trump. When called on it by Anderson Cooper at a CNN town hall on Tuesday night, Trump’s response was “He started it.” To which Cooper replied, “Sir, with all due respect, that’s the argument of a 5-year-old.” SNAP!
Trump’s not-very-good-week with women was capped off on Wednesday afternoon at a town hall with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews. When Trump stated that he thought abortion should be banned, Matthews saw an opening and asked how Trump would enforce it and whether there should be some form of punishment. Trump replied, “The answer is there has to be some form of punishment.”
With that one statement, the blogosphere went crazy. Predictably, there was much outcry from advocates on the left. “Not only is this an unhinged position far from where the American people are, but it is sure to endanger women were he to become president,” replied NARAL Pro-Choice America president Ilyse Hogue. Almost as predictably, there was criticism from his fellow candidates. John Kasich (who has made abortion exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother) said that of course women should not be punished.
The biggest surprise was the criticism of Trump from within the pro-life movement. Jeanne Mancini, the president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund, said in a statement. “Being pro-life means wanting what is best for the mother and the baby. No pro-lifer would ever want to punish a woman who has chosen abortion.”
For a campaign that regularly sends out clarifications about what Trump really meant, today’s walk-back was done with record speed, as the Trump organization quickly explained that Trump was referring only to doctors who provide abortions as the ones to be punished, not women. As if that helps.
I have been loath to join the weekly pundit chorus of saying that any one particular gaffe (whether it’s about Mexicans or John McCain or the Pope) will start the beginning of the end for Trump — the criticism only seems to make him stronger. But I suspect the various anti-women events this week may be just threatening enough to make Republican women reconsider whether they would be proud to see Donald Trump as the standard-bearer of their party.
One can only hope.
