Alyssa Farrah Griffin, who served as the White House Communications Director under former President Donald Trump, called him out for his “creepy” promise to be a “protector” of women if his current presidential bid is successful.
Speaking at a rally yesterday, Trump—who this year was found liable for sexual abuse against writer E. Jean Carroll and once boasted about grabbing women "by the p***y"—said the following:
“I want to be your protector as president, I have to be your protector. I hope you don’t make too much of it. I hope the fake news doesn’t go, ‘Oh, he wants to be their protector.’ Well, I am. As president, I have to be your protector.” ...
“I am your protector. I want to be your protector. You will no longer be abandoned, lonely, or scared. You will no longer be in danger. 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!”
You can hear his remarks in the video below.
Speaking to CNN anchor Anderson Cooper afterward, Griffin described Trump's remarks as "creepy" but detailed just why they're so unsettling as he tries to win back women voters at a time when many have lashed out at the Republican Party—and Trump-appointed Supreme Court justices—for undermining reproductive freedom.
She said:
"I started laughing and thinking it was creepy but then thinking about it, it's very infantilizing."
"Talking about women as though we’re weak, we’re meek, we need a protector, we need a defender and we just sit around thinking about abortions all day, it just underscores a fundamental lack of understanding for why a demographic that represents half of the country is one that he is struggling so profoundly with."
"I think Donald Trump, if he loses this election, is going to look back and think that one of the worst decisions he made was not having a female on the ticket who actually knows how to speak to living, breathing, normal women about issues that matter to them."
“Yes, reproductive rights do matter, access to IVF, to the whole suite of care that women care about, whether abortion or so on, but economics and national security are also women’s issues, and just the way he is talking about them is not the way to sway voters in the middle.”
You can hear what she said in the video below.
Many agreed with her assessment.
Women have become a critical vulnerability for Trump’s campaign, as he is viewed less favorably by them compared to men. A September AP-NORC poll revealed that over half of registered women voters hold a somewhat or very favorable view of Harris, whereas only about one-third view Trump positively.
The gender gap—the disparity in support between men and women for each candidate—has reached double digits in several recent polls, with this divide largely attributed to Trump's appointment of Supreme Court justices who overturned the constitutional right to abortion—a decision he continues to celebrate at his rallies.
Republicans have by and large faltered in their efforts to reach women voters as a result and many, Trump aside, have made headlines for demeaning remarks that critics say do nothing to sway them.
Trump's assurances that he will "protect" women, for instance, came just days after Ohio Senate candidate Bernie Moreno—whom Trump has endorsed—was caught on tape asking why "suburban women" and women "past 50" support abortion rights.
