Last night listening to the debate on the radio, I thought I understood where Trump was going when he was confronted with the fact of his bragging about forcing himself on women to whom he was attracted. He surprisingly started talking about the atrocities of ISIS bringing us back to “medieval times.”
My initial idea was that he was trying to trivialize his remarks (mere words!) by saying they were minor compared to the more important topic of terrorism. But he never really said that, and since then I’ve read several writers offering different readings of the connection. So I went back to the (NYT) transcript and I’m afraid it is clear what he meant. And it is worse than I had imagined.
Here is Anderson Cooper’s question:
COOPER: Thank you, Mr. Trump. The question from Patrice was about are you both modeling positive and appropriate behavior for today’s youth? We received a lot of questions online, Mr. Trump, about the tape that was released on Friday, as you can imagine. You called what you said locker room banter. You described kissing women without consent, grabbing their genitals. That is sexual assault. You bragged that you have sexually assaulted women. Do you understand that?
Here is the beginning of Trump’s reply (and by looking only at the ISIS connection, I do not mean in any way to downplay the mendaciousness of the reply):
TRUMP: No, I didn’t say that at all. I don’t think you understood what was — this was locker room talk. I’m not proud of it. I apologize to my family. I apologize to the American people. Certainly I’m not proud of it. But this is locker room talk.
You know, when we have a world where you have ISIS chopping off heads, where you have — and, frankly, drowning people in steel cages, where you have wars and horrible, horrible sights all over, where you have so many bad things happening, this is like medieval times. We haven’t seen anything like this, the carnage all over the world.
So far it isn’t clear where he is going with the ISIS line. It seems like a complete non-sequitur.
But then Trump says this:
And they look and they see. Can you imagine the people that are, frankly, doing so well against us with ISIS? And they look at our country and they see what’s going on.
Yes, I’m very embarrassed by it. I hate it. But it’s locker room talk, and it’s one of those things. I will knock the hell out of ISIS. We’re going to defeat ISIS. ISIS happened a number of years ago in a vacuum that was left because of bad judgment. And I will tell you, I will take care of ISIS.
This is garbled, but I think that the meaning is clear. Here are some key points:
- He thinks that ISIS can see the press and public’s focus on his predatory remarks about women: “They look and they see,” and “they look at our country and they see what’s going on.”
- They see us and we don’t see them: we are stuck trying to “imagine the people that are, frankly, doing so well against us with ISIS?” and “we haven’t see anything like this,” while they “see what’s going on.”
- In his mind, their seeing the press and public’s criticisms connects to Trump being uniquely able to “knock the hell out of ISIS.”
This was at first confusing because Trump isn’t coming right out and saying it, but there is an explanation that makes sense of all three of these points.
So clearly the first point above means my real-time understanding that he was trying to trivialize sexual assault as being less important than terrorism is wrong. Instead, he’s clearly saying that criticizing his proclivities to sexual assault is going to give ISIS some kind of advantage.
So what is that advantage? This advantage that Trump alone can neutralize?
The reasoning in his head is pretty clear once we go back to the (VOA) transcript of what he said to Billy Bush:
TRUMP: “Yeah that’s her in the gold. I better use some Tic Tacs [breath fresheners] just in case I start kissing her. You know, I'm automatically attracted to beautiful... I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything.”
BUSH: “Whatever you want.”
TRUMP: “Grab them by the p****. You can do anything.”
If you are a star, they will let you “do anything.” That is the key to why he is saying he can beat ISIS.
Trump is arguing that because he is willing to exploit his power he alone would be able to “knock the hell out of ISIS.” In other words, he is not only not apologizing for his remarks, he is arguing that we need a strongman who is willing to apply his power to get what he wants. And he’s wearing those remarks like a badge that show he is that strongman.
More than that, by criticizing his remarks we weaken our position relative to ISIS, since we send a message that we are not comfortable exploiting our power.
If you think about it for a moment, he doesn’t even have to spell it out clearly to make that argument. Juxtaposing his hypermasculine appeal to “locker room banter” with the need to beat ISIS serves to “dog whistle” a version of that argument.
More crudely, you need a man who will **** women against their will to **** ISIS against its will.
Feel free to reread the transcripts above, I think it makes perfect sense out of what, at first, seems like a random non-sequitur.
My main point in this post is to tease out Trump’s argument, so I won’t spend a lot of time saying why I think it is both a creepy and a dangerously simple-minded approach to security, and, for that matter, to life.
But I do want to say this:
If I were ISIS, I would be much more afraid of the candidate who, despite the fact the she grew up in a society where 43% of the public seem to be comfortable with the idea that male fantasies about sexual violence qualify one to be commander-in-chief, has worked out how to become the first woman elected to that position. That’s the one who would be the real adversary.