Vice President Kamala Harris slammed former president Donald Trump after he declared he would protect women "whether they like it or not." Harris' new comments come as the closing statements of her campaign largely focus on reproductive rights.
Harris told reporters Trump's remarks were "very offensive" and revealed how Trump sees women, showing disregard for their autonomy.
"It actually is, I think, very offensive to women in terms of not understanding their agency, their authority, their right and their ability to make decisions about their own lives, including their bodies," Harris said in Madison, Wisconsin, before her departure for a campaign swing in western battleground states.
She continued to hone in on those remarks later in the day at her rally in Phoenix, Ariz.
"He simply does not respect the freedom of women or the intelligence of women to know what's in their own best interests and make decisions accordingly. But we trust women," the Vice President said.
The former president argued during a campaign event that he would "protect" women, a vague promise as he has struggled to appeal to female voters, especially those concerned about restrictions on abortion rights. Polls show a significant gender gap between Trump's and Harris's supporters in the first presidential elections since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, according to The Washington Post.
On Wednesday night in Wisconsin, he also revealed his advisers had told him to refrain from using the phrase "protect women" as it sounded inappropriate.
"My people told me, about four weeks ago— I always say, 'No, I want to protect the people. I want to protect the women of our country. I want to protect the women.' 'Sir, please don't say that.' 'Why?" They said, 'We think it's— we think it's very inappropriate for you to say so,'" Trump said. "Why? I'm president. I want to protect the women of our country,' They said, they said, 'Sir, I just think it's inappropriate for you to say.'"
"I said, well, I'm going to do it whether the women like it or not," he continued, emphasizing the words "the women."
Both candidates' comments come as they try to appeal to women in a year that abortion is a key voter issue. Polling shows that Harris leads Trump by 9 points (56% to 42%) among women, according to a recent ABC News/Ipsos poll.
The Harris campaign has jumped on the discourse, making posts on social media about Trump's comments.
"Donald Trump thinks he should get to make decisions about what you do with your body. Whether you like it or not," Harris posted on social media.
Likewise, Sarafina Chitika, Harris' campaign spokesperson, also posted, "Donald Trump thinks he knows better than the women of America. To him, our choices don't matter, our decisions are his to control, and he's going to ban abortion nationwide whether we like it or not."
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