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Warning: While some answers shed light on the women's decision-making process, most will make your head explode.
How exactly any living, breathing woman can continue to support Donald Trump's bid for the presidency after all the revelations of his sexism, misogyny and alleged sexual assaults is one of the bigger mysteries of this election season. New York magazine [3] recently revisited 10 Republican women the magazine interviewed way back just before the primaries, and all but one say they're still voting for Trump, "pussy-grabbing" video be damned. While some of the women's explanations will come as little surprise to those who have tried to engage with Trump supporters (men and women alike), others were more complex and provided insight. Still others were just plain mind-blowingly ignorant and perversely self-sabotaging.
From this self-described unscientific survey comes a small victory in that one of the 10 women, Claira Monier, switched her primary vote from former GOP candidate John Kasich to Hillary Clinton: "I probably made up my mind when that tape was released of his conversation with Billy Bush on the bus," Monier said. "When I heard that, I said, 'No way. Hillary.'"
Monier explained she was tired of a society that treated sexual assault as "okay" and further condemned Trump's larger "culture of hatred." Hooray—a sister across the aisle daring for the first time ever to vote across party lines in a presidential election, who agrees that just because we turn back the clock this weekend doesn't mean we turn it back 60 years on Tuesday.
On the other hand, some of the women defended Trump for engaging in what he calls "locker room talk." The most shocking statement came from Jane Biddick, who has supported Trump since the primary:
Merchon Andersen is also sticking by Trump from primaries to general election because she supports a culture more inclusive of misogynist actions like Trump's: "We have become so wussified. Pretty soon, saying hello to someone is going to be considered harassment."
Some had vaguely heard about Trump's women troubles but chose to plug their ears to ward off the details.
Jane Biddick followed up her support for groping and being groped by adding she hadn't "even gotten on to see exactly what Trump said, because I think that’s stupid. Unless you want to write Jesus Christ in as your vote, you might as well forget it." Biddick added:
Cindy Corson, who supported Carly Fiorina in the GOP primary before moving to team Trump, said she wants to "follow the party line," although she didn't approve of Trump's "crudeness" in a president. But instead of blaming Trump, she opted to "blame the press" for showing "too much—too many details" going all the way back to coverage of the Vietnam War. "I don't think that's good for anyone," Corson said.
Other women cited Trump's businessman, non-insider status and his appeals to the white working class as reasons for sticking by him, while Nicole Martin said she supported feminist milestones but was overcome by a vague mistrust of Hillary Clinton: "I just feel like she's a liar," said Martin, who has supported Trump since the primary. "If I took her face out of the picture, I could say I love that we live in a country where a woman can reach that. Can I say I ever felt that with her? No."
Allison Doyle also seems to have turned a blind eye to the unpleasant Access Hollywood video, saying, "I haven’t listened to the recording of what he said in 2005, because I feel like it’s so irrelevant. It was 11 years ago. We’re not voting for someone based on their character." She went on to criticize Bill Clinton as "scum," though he is not running for president this election, and that is of course a judgment on his characer. She didn't mention Melania Trump's response to her husband's "locker-room talk," but instead said, "I’ve never heard about Trump cheating. I know he’s had multiple marriages—which, in today’s society, who doesn’t?"
Valerie Still, who supported Trump during the primaries, also pointed to the issue of how Hillary handled her husband's cheating and how it compares to Trump's, saying, "If women grabbed men like that, it wouldn’t be a big deal. But if men do that to women, they blow it out of proportion."
Some women in the interview made up their minds when Trump positioned himself in the anti-choice camp of the abortion debate—although, as the Washington Post [4] has reported, Trump switched his position from pro-choice to anti-choice "at some point between 1999 and 2011."
Barbara Nicholson, who supported Ben Carson in the primary, now supports Trump mostly because of his (current) stance on abortion. "I am a total pro-life person," said Nicholson. "Trump is not as well informed or well educated as he should be on the issue, but I have a feeling that he will have advisers that will help him so that he understands it better."
Tina Vondran, who also supported Carson in the primary, agreed on this hardline stance, saying, "My faith will not allow me to vote for a candidate who believes abortion is right." Debbie Eberly called herself "a woman advocate," but added, "I still have no sympathy for Hillary Clinton. I’m sure if a woman were a godly person, I could be proud of that."
For the full interviews, see New York magazine [3].
By Jenny Pierson
How exactly any living, breathing woman can continue to support Donald Trump's bid for the presidency after all the revelations of his sexism, misogyny and alleged sexual assaults is one of the bigger mysteries of this election season. New York magazine [3] recently revisited 10 Republican women the magazine interviewed way back just before the primaries, and all but one say they're still voting for Trump, "pussy-grabbing" video be damned. While some of the women's explanations will come as little surprise to those who have tried to engage with Trump supporters (men and women alike), others were more complex and provided insight. Still others were just plain mind-blowingly ignorant and perversely self-sabotaging.
From this self-described unscientific survey comes a small victory in that one of the 10 women, Claira Monier, switched her primary vote from former GOP candidate John Kasich to Hillary Clinton: "I probably made up my mind when that tape was released of his conversation with Billy Bush on the bus," Monier said. "When I heard that, I said, 'No way. Hillary.'"
Monier explained she was tired of a society that treated sexual assault as "okay" and further condemned Trump's larger "culture of hatred." Hooray—a sister across the aisle daring for the first time ever to vote across party lines in a presidential election, who agrees that just because we turn back the clock this weekend doesn't mean we turn it back 60 years on Tuesday.
On the other hand, some of the women defended Trump for engaging in what he calls "locker room talk." The most shocking statement came from Jane Biddick, who has supported Trump since the primary:
"I heard that he said something about groping women, and I’m thinking, Okay, No. 1, I think that’d be great. I like getting groped! I’m heterosexual. I’m a woman, and when a guy gropes me, I get groping on them! I grope them back. Groping is a healthy thing to do. When you’re heterosexual, you grope, okay? It’s a good thing. Try it. I wonder if Nixon groped Pat."
One can only hope there's some exaggeration going on here, but no matter how charitable you are, it's pretty horrifying to read.
Merchon Andersen is also sticking by Trump from primaries to general election because she supports a culture more inclusive of misogynist actions like Trump's: "We have become so wussified. Pretty soon, saying hello to someone is going to be considered harassment."
Some had vaguely heard about Trump's women troubles but chose to plug their ears to ward off the details.
Jane Biddick followed up her support for groping and being groped by adding she hadn't "even gotten on to see exactly what Trump said, because I think that’s stupid. Unless you want to write Jesus Christ in as your vote, you might as well forget it." Biddick added:
"Since December, I’ve done very little reading. I’ve heard little snippets here and there on the radio, and I don’t watch TV. I’m just going on what I have at the gut. If Trump really did something that made me feel like he was compromising what I thought was good for the country, I’d get right on and I’d start reading. But all I hear is people are saying he likes to grope women. I’m sorry, that just hasn’t given me any doubt about my vote."
So not reading turns out to be a good way to maintain your support for Trump.
Cindy Corson, who supported Carly Fiorina in the GOP primary before moving to team Trump, said she wants to "follow the party line," although she didn't approve of Trump's "crudeness" in a president. But instead of blaming Trump, she opted to "blame the press" for showing "too much—too many details" going all the way back to coverage of the Vietnam War. "I don't think that's good for anyone," Corson said.
Other women cited Trump's businessman, non-insider status and his appeals to the white working class as reasons for sticking by him, while Nicole Martin said she supported feminist milestones but was overcome by a vague mistrust of Hillary Clinton: "I just feel like she's a liar," said Martin, who has supported Trump since the primary. "If I took her face out of the picture, I could say I love that we live in a country where a woman can reach that. Can I say I ever felt that with her? No."
Allison Doyle also seems to have turned a blind eye to the unpleasant Access Hollywood video, saying, "I haven’t listened to the recording of what he said in 2005, because I feel like it’s so irrelevant. It was 11 years ago. We’re not voting for someone based on their character." She went on to criticize Bill Clinton as "scum," though he is not running for president this election, and that is of course a judgment on his characer. She didn't mention Melania Trump's response to her husband's "locker-room talk," but instead said, "I’ve never heard about Trump cheating. I know he’s had multiple marriages—which, in today’s society, who doesn’t?"
Valerie Still, who supported Trump during the primaries, also pointed to the issue of how Hillary handled her husband's cheating and how it compares to Trump's, saying, "If women grabbed men like that, it wouldn’t be a big deal. But if men do that to women, they blow it out of proportion."
Some women in the interview made up their minds when Trump positioned himself in the anti-choice camp of the abortion debate—although, as the Washington Post [4] has reported, Trump switched his position from pro-choice to anti-choice "at some point between 1999 and 2011."
Barbara Nicholson, who supported Ben Carson in the primary, now supports Trump mostly because of his (current) stance on abortion. "I am a total pro-life person," said Nicholson. "Trump is not as well informed or well educated as he should be on the issue, but I have a feeling that he will have advisers that will help him so that he understands it better."
Tina Vondran, who also supported Carson in the primary, agreed on this hardline stance, saying, "My faith will not allow me to vote for a candidate who believes abortion is right." Debbie Eberly called herself "a woman advocate," but added, "I still have no sympathy for Hillary Clinton. I’m sure if a woman were a godly person, I could be proud of that."
For the full interviews, see New York magazine [3].
By Jenny Pierson