Time after time, we have seen how Donald Trump’s untrustworthiness prevails through his issues with degrading women. At this point in the election process, the numbers are becoming more predicable and clearer. There is a chance Trump could lose this election, and when push comes to shove, a large contributing factor to that could be the repeated surfacing of his comments about women. A casual recent comment included, “Oh, I’m sure she’s never been grabbed before.” in reference to a porn star (Jessica Drake) who is accusing him of inappropriate physical activity. I would like to argue that not only Donald Trump’s continuous misconduct such as this, but also the way he has handled the accusations, has caused him to lose many polls.

Trump and Jessica Drake, 2006

The New York Times explains how Trump “sees a different reality” than the polls. But, is the reality Trump is seeing an actually realistic viewpoint? Trump says he is winning, his supporters think the polls aren’t real, and he even claims that “seventy-five percent of the American people, based on the polls, think our country is headed on the wrong track”. Claims can be made from each and every which way possible, but to get down to the matter, how has Trump been able to still be successful enough for a close race despite problem after problem with accusations? In class we discussed the idea of “try or die” with Trump and how this is the only alternative. Trump is obviously aggressive with forceful and authoritative actions, and his attack has created a unique vision for America that has caused people to see a good reason to vote for him. Many may argue that his biggest problem also lies in this and can be seen from a different perspective, one from him “coming off the rails” (in class discussion). As stated above, it seems although his “try or die” approach has helped him to an extent, him “coming off the rails” has hurt him more, which has in turn caused him to lose polls. The NYT article previously discussed is a prime example of this.

Many may say there isn’t hope for Trump at this point in time, and although I disagree, I see how the contributing factors (such as females, which affects the female vote) in his approach are hurtful. In the end, time will tell.

The Latest Blow

Look at any news media outlet after today and you’ll probably see something headlined along the lines of “Elizabeth Warren Fires back about ‘nasty women’ comment.” The last debate wrapped up last week and while some might argue that this was Trump’s strongest and most presidential debate performance yet, the media has really nit picked at the fact that he called Hilary a “nasty woman.” At this point in the election season, it seems like the media is grasping at any word(s) coming out of Trump’s mouth pertaining to women and turning it into this grandiose narrative/junkyard journalism-esque rampage. Let me re-iterate as I have before that I don’t in any way condone what Trump has said about women, but I do think it’s important to note how much of an incredible narrative the media has turned this into.

But don’t mind me. Let’s hear about Senator Warren.

Elizabeth is a well-known Massachusetts Senator who has generally been seen as a “thorn in Mrs. Clinton’s side” because of her opposition to Hilary’s agenda and policy. But with the remarks made at the recent Clinton rally in New Hampshire, she has definitely gotten behind the “Women against Trump” train. She was heard making comments such as “I’ve got news for you Donald, women have had it with guys like you and nasty women have really had it with you” referencing the “nasty women” comments he made about Hilary int last debate. From a communication and rhetorical perspective, I can argue with a lot of certainty that the media will be off and running with this “nasty women” remarks made by Elizabeth and turning it into a narrative driven wildfire.

The Morning After Effects 

Recent polls are showing Clinton with a 12 point lead, which is the largest she’s had in the campaign trail yet. I think this story with Senator Warren will invigorate and seal the deal for many women out there who still might be on the fence but are afraid to come out fully come out with their support for Clinton. I think you may even start to see some last minute advertisements out their coming from Hilary that’ll help send push Trump over the edge in terms of the women vote. I can absolutely see the media taking this story and running head on with it because it’s the “newest” gossip on the street and people, especially left wing voters are going to eat this mess up off of a silver platter.

Who knows, maybe Clinton will put Warren on her administrative board in the White House if elected? She has certainly helped Clinton in this matter at least.

After last night’s debate, if Trump wants to make a genuine attempt to reach out and connect with women voters he’s going to have to do something massive. Trump managed to keep his composure for the first third of the debate, not interrupting Hillary, staying on topic, and answering questions with legitimate plans. But Clinton knew how to push Trump’s buttons in such a way that he would come off the rails and possibly saying something he would regret later. And he did. He said that he had more respect for women than anyone which garnered an audible laugh from the audience. He called Hillary a “nasty woman” to which the internet raged against him. He was forced to deal with the allegations of nine different women who came forward saying that they had been sexually assaulted by Trump.

Outside of the debate, Trump was already doing poorly with women across the board, but a one on one debate with a women there was no way he would have any chance pulling in more votes. The way he attacked Hillary, and specifically the way she defended herself, showed women across the nation that he was largely the same person that the 2005 tapes showed. For example, in response to the sexual assault Trump said “Those stories have been largely debunked. Those people, I don’t know those people. I have a feeling how they came. I believe it was her campaign that did it,”.  His rhetoric should have been along the lines of “I would never have done anything like what these women are accusing because I have changed morally from what the media has portrayed in the past”. But he didn’t and Hillary slammed him for that. It was an area she was both passionate and prepared about and it showed that women should support her, not just because she is a women but because she is willing to defend women’s rights.

In conclusion, Trump largely missed his last and best opportunity to win a key demographic and there is little that he can do to change it. The massive amount of prior rhetoric against women that Trump has spewed is continuing to pile up and is causing him to bleed possible voters. He gave women everything they needed in 90 minutes to verify that they can’t trust him.

A double standard is an interesting topic to consider for the topic of politics. While it especially pertains to this election because the democratic and republican candidates are of opposite sex, it takes on a whole new meaning due to Donald Trump’s accusations and degrading comments about women and all around inappropriate behavior. But, how would all of these actions and words be taken if they had come out of a woman’s mouth, more importantly that of Hillary Clinton? I would like to argue that if Hillary Clinton had been in the shoes of Donald Trump and completed the over the line acts and spoken the audacious words that he has, she would be criticized more and trusted less than Trump is now, which would make her a victim of the gender double standard. I would also like to argue how the narrative candidates write and their roles with the media are affected by their gender.

New York Times states, “Imagine if Clinton had said, ‘You know, it doesn’t really matter what [the media] writes as long as you’ve got a young and beautiful piece of ass.” Not only is this an interesting quote to look at having to do with Trump and gender and the double standard, but it has to do with the media and consuming politics. As talked about in class, each story writes a different narrative for us to consume, which causes us to consume things besides vital world issues, example: pieces of ass. This New York Times article focuses on political happenings that do not have to do with what our potential presidents may be doing for taxes or international policy. This is an example of a how changing relationship between candidates and the media (in class discussion) can stem from the role a candidate plays in a campaign. Trump and Clinton’s roles intersect but also are independent and at the opposite ends of the spectrum, and while both untrustworthy, Trump’s role has truly gone above and beyond Hillary’s in terms of his ill-mannered commentary. Therefore, his narrative and role with the media has helped write his own story that is based around his extra fluff. More importantly, if Hillary followed the same plot, her narrative and role with the media would likely be more critically judged because she’s a woman.

Media and candidates all come full circle. In the long run, the narrative a politician writes depending if they’re male or female plays a vital role in the effect that actions and words have when it comes to their relationship with media, voters, and the democratic system as a whole.

This last debate could make or break

As we near election day, Trumps polls with women are still lingering toward the bottom of the voter pile in large part because of the video leaked by the Washing Post. According to a post by CBS, Hilary is leading Trump with the female vote in battleground states, which could very well play a huge roll in the outcome of this election, by a 15% margin. That’s about a 10% increase from the lead Hilary previously held and while many people are going to argue that the women vote may sink Trump in this election, I’d argue that this final debate could really help put a bandage over some wounds that he has cut open over the course of the last month. He may not necessarily change the position on a lot of voters, but I think if he used his rhetoric to really humble himself in this debate and offer up as much support of women as possible it may help people see him in a more Presidential manner instead of a “sexist bigot” like many people view him.

The “Rigged” Allegations Won’t Help Him

Trump has recently come out shooting saying that there has been voter fraud against him and that this election has been “rigged.” While I can certainly see him trying to sway media attention away from the topic of women and into something else, I don’t know that I would put money on this claim because he has dug his grave a little too deep in terms of winning over the hearts of women. Hilary’s people are undoubtedly going to fire right back and make claims like ” he’s doing this out of defense” or because she continues to widen her lead. But all this talk of “rigged” allegations is more than likely not going to help win over women votes.

At least he’s got Melania’s approval

Sure, Trump doesn’t have a large majority of the women’s vote and he will certainly blame a lot of that on the media cracking down on him.

But at least his wife supports him, right?

It’s hard to say how much his family’s support can go, even if they are claiming that all of this “sexual assault” is a bunch of garbage. It’ll be interesting to see if any of this gets media traction. But at the end of the day, I stick to what I’ve said from the beginning and that is the fact that he needs to use this final debate to come out and try to drown this Women problem with as much humility as he can muster and be as Presidential as Donald J. Trump can possibly be.

In regard to Donald Trump’s comments concerning women that were released last Friday, I would like to look not on the comments but instead his apology and lack thereof. A typical apologia speech is used to apologize for an action or comment someone in the public eye has done or said. And we’ve heard our fair share not just from politicians but celebrities, athletes (see Tiger Woods circa 2010), or public figures. These speeches have many different tones and can be taken many different ways. You can explain your behavior in a positive light, or you can justify the thing and try to remove it from the news cycle, deny it, differentiate public and private behavior, bolster the legitimacy of the action, or you can simply confess. Even with all these options, Donald Trump decided to not to stick with any of these options and instead blaze his own trail.

During his apology video, as you can see below, he does at least start by apologizing to America. But then he goes into this odd part when he says that these comments don’t reflect who he is. This would have been a perfect time for him to differentiate public and private behavior but instead he says that’s just not who he is. All of this take place in the first 25 seconds. The rest of the video is just a political ad, with a pivot at the end to ensure that he fires off a shot at the Clintons. In terms of what this video was supposed to do, he really didn’t accomplish much. The rhetoric was harsh and intimidating, something that women, who the video is trying to speak to, don’t find appealing. Also, the fact that his apology lasts for approximately 25 seconds keeps it from sounding sincere at all. Hell, even Tiger’s is 14 minutes long and he’s not even running for president.