This is Donald Trump’s sick, sadistic closing argument in the final days of his third presidential run: a threat against the women of America.
At a rally Wednesday night, Trump insisted he’s going to “protect” women—against their will. Whether they like it or not. Because he’s the president.
My people told me about four weeks ago, I would 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.”
I say, “Why? I’m president. I want to protect the women of our country.”
They said, “Sir, I just think it’s inappropriate for you to say.” I pay these guys a lot of money, can you believe it?
I said, “Well, I’m going to do it whether the women like it or not. I’m going to protect them.”
If that sounds all too familiar—that threat to force himself on women because he has the power and can do whatever he wants—it should.
Because it sounds a lot like Trump in the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape that burst into the public eye almost exactly eight years ago:
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. … Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.
It was the tape that should have ended Trump’s career right then and there. But it didn’t. A thousand moments since then that should have ended his career haven’t.
And here we are, once again, on the eve of a presidential election in which this country is dangerously, terrifyingly split on whether to send this man back to the White House.
In 2016, we listened to him laugh about sexually assaulting women. And over the years, dozens of women have accused him of kissing them, groping them, grabbing them—all without their consent and against their will.
The accusations go back decades. From all walks of life, from all stages of his career. In public, in private, on a plane, in a dressing room.
In 2023, a jury found him liable for sexual assault. Those jurors listened to advice columnist E. Jean Carroll tell her story of Trump assaulting her in a dressing room in 1996, and they believed her, and they awarded her $5 million because of what Trump did to her.
These are the facts. This is who Trump is. This is who he tells us he is, over and over again. The man who grabs them by the pussy, without even waiting, because he believes he can get away with it.
The man who is going to “protect” women, whether they like it or not. Because he thinks he’s a star. Because he thinks he’s the president. Because he believes he can get away with it.
In 2016, far too many voters let him get away with it. Republicans quickly recovered from their supposed horror, decided to accept the defense that it was mere “locker room talk,” and moved right on to forgiving and, more importantly, forgetting.
It’s the gift Republicans have been giving Trump ever since: accepting, forgiving, and forgetting his most outrageous sins.
And it’s got to stop. Now.
"I’m going to do it whether the women like it or not," Trump said.
The women do not like it. They never have. And on Tuesday, they have their greatest chance to tell him no. No, he can’t do whatever he wants. No, he cannot get away with it. Not anymore. It’s over. For good.
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