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.
I completely agree with the idea that this was Trump’s last chance to try an mend his relationship with female voters. It was humorous when he claimed to have the up most respect for women. He said this in the last debate and once again it was ineffective. I feel that the people would have a better response if he didn’t simply say he respects them but rather shared examples that highlight this to be true. Clinton does such a great job of humanizing herself by talking about specific people who she has met or helped through out her life. Us hearing Trump say that he respects women does nothing to appeal to people’s emotion. He really should have dug deep to find a relatable example and used it in this debate because he most likely won’t have another chance to do so.