Trump’s Creepy New Message to Women Is Freaking Them Out

Donald Trump has a new promise for America’s women. It’s not safeguarding against extreme abortion and reproductive health restrictions but instead a creepy, vague vow to be their “protector.”

“I am your protector, I want to be your protector. As president I have to be your protector,” Trump declared at a rally in Indiana, Pennsylvania, speaking to women voters on Monday. “I hope you don’t make too much of it,” he added, after perhaps hearing how strange he sounded.

Trump addresses women: "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 will no longer be thinking about abortion." pic.twitter.com/x6GXF8WQYH

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 24, 2024

There is a large gender divide in the polls, with Harris leading women voters by a net 21 percentage points, according to an NBC poll released Sunday. Still, Trump pushed back against claims from the “fake news media” that he has an issue getting half of the population to like him. “I always thought women liked me, I never thought I had a problem,” Trump said, as he promised to assure women they would “no longer be abandoned, lonely, or scared” and urged them not to worry about abortion rights.

On Saturday, in a post on Truth Social, the former president and convicted rapist posted a similar sentiment. “WOMEN WILL BE HAPPY, HEALTHY, CONFIDENT AND FREE! YOU WILL NO LONGER BE THINKING ABOUT ABORTION, BECAUSE IT IS NOW WHERE IT ALWAYS HAD TO BE, WITH THE STATES.”

Women, themselves, were less impressed.

“Seeing that line ‘I am your protector’ makes me think about the fact that he was found liable for sexual assault,” said Alecia Johnson, senior adviser to Joe Biden’s campaign, on CNN. “The tone was very patronizing to women, and I think there are a lot of women who will see right through it.”

Others on X echoed her sentiment.

It’s no surprise that the man who has dozens of sexual harassment allegations against him, and who called the #MeToo movement “a very scary time for young men in America,” can’t read the room.