Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Tallahassee Automobile Museum in Tallahassee, Florida, on October 25, 2016. (Photo: Eric Thayer / The New York Times)
Yet again, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has been caught saying ‘deplorable’ things about women. The dust is still settling from the leaked tape of Trump’s conversation with former NBC host Billy Bush in 2005, in which he bragged about his objectification of women: “I just start kissing them,” Trump said unrepentantly. “And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything… Grab them by the p*ssy.”
South Dakota senator and chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, John Thune condemned Trump’s comments, tweeting “Donald Trump should withdraw and Mike Pence should be our nominee effective immediately.” Thune joined the ranks of other members of the Republican Party who have since rescinded previous support for or altogether denounced Trump.
It is important to remember that, despite his consistently abhorrent comments, and the catalysing effect of the Billy Bush tape, Trump still enjoys a tremendous amount of support from Republicans. Why is that the case? The answer is that, despite liberal-progressive pundits and the Republican establishment’s efforts to paint Donald Trump as uniquely bigoted, he is not.
In fact, Donald Trump is as quintessentially American as they come. In so many ways, Trump is the president that contemporary white America deserves: he is an amalgamation of some of the worst racism, ableism, misogyny, and anti-poor attitudes and rhetoric that collectively comprise ‘American values’. Outside of Republicans’ own involvement in sexual misconduct, the party is ultimately responsible for draconian anti-choice policies over sexual reproduction, horrific discourses around rape, and a perpetual onslaught on the rights of women and gender and sexual minorities.
So why, suddenly, is there this outrage over Trump’s comments, given his habitual misogyny? Why was there no…