One Donald Trump supporter in Texas told Fox News she “wouldn’t vote for a woman” as president and suggested that Nikki Haley is “probably menopausal.” Another Trump supporter told NBC News in North Carolina that he wouldn’t vote for Haley because she’s a woman, saying “a woman’s not gonna be a good president” because “she’s got no balls to scratch. She’s just gonna scratch her head.”
Republicans’ Super Tuesday voters really helped to put the MAGA movement’s toxic masculinity on full display. This kind of grotesque bigotry that has come to characterize the movement is, I believe, a major vulnerability for Trump’s chances this fall.
Trump’s performance of what he believes manhood to be is integral to his political persona. He’s crass, arrogant, ignorant, misogynistic and has a tantrum when he doesn’t get his way. And this performative bravado is part of what has excited his supporters for years. But there’s a clear argument to be made that these traits make for a poor leader.
The Biden campaign would do well to diagnose and, when appropriate, mock Trump’s hypermasculinity in no uncertain terms.
First lady Jill Biden took a shot at it last weekend, calling out Trump’s misogyny at an event launching the “Women for Biden-Harris” organization in Arizona. Unlike President Joe Biden, the first lady said, Trump has “spent a lifetime tearing [women] down and devaluing our existence.” She went on to say Trump “mocks women’s bodies, disrespects our accomplishments and brags about assault. Now he’s bragging about killing Roe v. Wade.”
That’s a powerful message to women about rejecting misogyny. And the Biden-Harris campaign should take this messaging to men, a voting group that arguably needs to hear it more than any other. If the Biden-Harris campaign wants to win re-election this November, I’m increasingly convinced they need to make a mockery of the hypermasculine id that’s driving today’s Republican…
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