The “October Surprise”
Donald Trump’s disrespectful attitude toward women has been a hot topic for a while. Recent tapes that have come out in which Trump talks about having sex with married women and grabbing women by their genitalia may very well be the kiss of death for the Trump campaign. If Trump surrogates such as Scottie Nell Hughes and Betsy McCaughey do not stop trying to normalize his behavior by attributing it to the culture created by Fifty Shades of Grey, Magic Mike, and Beyoncé rather than addressing the underlying issues, Trump will become further alienated from his supporters and can say goodbye to his shot at the presidency.
Framing, Framing, Framing
Many of Trump’s surrogates are trying to blame the backlash that came alongside the recent video on the ability of liberal media to set the agenda and then frame issues the way they want them to be seen. Donald Trump Jr. has attempted to claim that Trump’s statements were taken out of context by liberal media and are actually part of what “makes him a human.” Whether this “makes him a human” or not, if Trump cannot win over the moderate Republican women, he will not win the election; rising accusations of sexual assault and incriminating videos will not help him with his attempts at winning over the female electorate.
Fueling the Fire
Hillary Clinton’s campaign has already utilized attack ads that displayed Trump’s cruel comments about women [ad]. She has so far been very successful at one of the main strategies of attack ads: labeling Trump and defining him as a misogynist. Amidst this ad, recent allegations of sexual assault, being accused of calling a former Miss Universe “miss piggy,” and now the Trump tapes, Trump is in a downward spiral in support of Republican women. He seems to be failing at responding to the attacks, as little to no attention has been taken away from his controversies. Even statements of support from strong Trump surrogates such as Minnesota state Senator Carrie Rudd (citing “more important issues” as her reason for retaining support) do not seem to be enough to help save his chances among women. Trump and his surrogates have two options at this point: find a way to show women that he does not think they are inferior to him or lose the election.
I agree that Trump’s campaign is in dire need of a change. Trump and his supporters have continuously portrayed Trump’s actions as “normal” or “not a big deal”, but in fact it is a huge deal. Trump has continuously treated women disrespectfully in a country where he is supposed to represent both men and women equally. This is going to hurt him greatly in the election, both with the female vote, and I think with some of the male vote as well.
I also agree with you in that I believe that this latest blunder may have been the kiss of death for Trump’s campaign. He was already doing exceptionally poorly with women, in general, but this incident may have pushed even more undecided or moderate voters towards Clinton. Though his surrogates and other conservative analysts were imploring him to engage in some legitimate apologia – as in actually crafting a sincere apology instead of using deflecting techniques he’s so fond of -, Trump seems to have stuck by his guns and will not back down on passing this issue off as “locker room talk,” which is the exact opposite of what he needed to say.
It remains to be seen how HRC’s campaign will continue to play up this scandal, but it is abundantly clear that the ball is now in her court – and might continue to be until November 8th.