GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump reposted an image on his social media site Truth Social last week that showed Kamala Harris, the 2024 Democratic presidential candidate, and Hillary Clinton, Trump’s 2016 Democratic rival. The post referred to the fact that Harris once dated San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown and Clinton’s husband had an affair with a White House intern.
“Funny how blowjobs impacted both their careers differently,” the tweet said.
Trump insinuated that Harris had traded sexual favors in exchange for advancing her political career. NBC reported that Trump has responded to Harris in “increasingly vulgar, misogynistic and vindictive posts.”
This kind of sexist attack has been standard operating procedure for Trump.
“Mr. Trump has repeatedly been accused of sexual misconduct and was found liable last year for sexual abuse and defamation,” The New York Times said. “He has a history of attacking female opponents and critics in deeply personal terms, often describing them as mentally ill or at times expressing contempt in epithets.”
A New York jury found that Trump had sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll in May 2023. Trump denied ever meeting Carroll. “She is not my type,” Trump said.
Yet there is a photo of Trump and Carroll chatting amiably. In his deposition, Trump identified the woman in the photo incorrectly as his second wife Marla Maples, who was probably his type or he wouldn’t have married her.
In addition, Trump has twice been found guilty of defaming Carroll for calling her a liar. Trump was ordered to pay Carroll $5 million the first time and $83.5 million the next.
Trump regularly insults women with grade-school names like “stupid,” “crazy,” “nasty,” and “ugly,” describing them as having a “horse face” or being “a big fat pig.”
Donald Trump isn’t just a convicted sexual abuser who uses demeaning language in his attacks against women. He has endorsed accused alleged sexual abusers and pedophiles for political office. He hires staffers who have been fired from other jobs after being accused of sexual misconduct. He defends friends and associates who are accused of sexual misconduct even when there is evidence that contradicts his claim – as was the case with Jean Carroll.
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris must confront Trump’s sexist remarks, his sexual misconduct, and his association with pedophiles and other sexual abusers during the presidential debate on September 10.
To do so, she must hit Trump where he is most vulnerable: below the belt.
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren did this she confronted former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg during one of the 2020 Democratic Party debates.
“I want to talk about who we’re running against: a billionaire who calls women fat broads and horse-faced lesbians,” Warren said. “And no, I’m not talking about Donald Trump, I’m talking about Mayor Bloomberg.”
Bloomberg dropped out of the race shortly after the debate.
Trump will not drop out of the race if confronted with his long and sordid history of sexual abuse and sexism. This is as much a part of his identify as dog whistles and Diet Cokes.
But Harris could put Trump on the defensive and win votes among independents and undecideds, particularly women.
Trump’s misogyny is widely known. But far less known is the degree of that misogyny.
I created a blog with names/blogs of 300 Trump accomplices. It includes thousands of links to 100s of sources. One of the sections is called “sexual abusers, sexual predators, pedophiles, pornographers, perverts and other creeps (convicted, admitted or credibly accused).”
Trump endorsed accused pedophile Roy Moore for the U.S. Senate in Alabama amid accusations by a dozen women that he had pursued them for sex when he was in his 30s and they were teenagers. One woman said that Moore had molested her she was a girl.
Trump endorsed for a U.S. Senate seat in Georgia former football player Herschel Walker, who had been repeatedly accused of physically abusing women, by, among others, his wife and a long-term girlfriend.
Trump also endorsed Sean Parnell for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania after he had been accused of domestic abuse by his wife; North Carolina Congressman Madison Cawthorn for re-election amid accusations from several woman of sexual harassment and misconduct; and Charles Herbster for governor of Nebraska after he had been accused of groping and forcibly kissing eight women.
Matt Gaetz, one of Trump’s closest supporters in Congress whom Trump has endorsed for re-election, is being investigated by a GOP-led committee for a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl.
White House secretary Rob Porter was accused of sexual assault by his two ex-wives. One of Porter’s ex-wives rwleased a photograph of her battered face. Yet, Trump declared Porter innocent and called him “a man of true integrity and honor.”
Two days after Porter’s resignation, a second Trump WH staffer, speechwriter David Sorensen resigned after his ex-wife said “he ran a car over her foot, put out a cigarette on her hand, threw her into a wall and grasped her menacingly by her hair while they were alone on their boat in remote waters off Maine’s coast, an incident she said left her fearing for her life.”
Trump has defended staffers, including Corey Lewandowski, a onetime campaign manager who was charged with battery in response to grabbing a journalist who tried to ask Trump a question at an event in Florida in March 2016.
Lewandowski and Trump denied that Lewandowski touched the reporter. Trump called the reporter “a drama queen.” Trump defended Lewandowski and criticized the reporter’s allegation.
“Wow, Corey Lewandowski, my campaign manager and a very decent man, was just charged with assaulting a reporter. Look at tapes — nothing there!” Trump wrote on Twitter.
Trump was wrong.
Video showed Lewandowski shoved the reporter.
Trump recently hired Lewandowski, who has since been repeatedly accused of sexual harassment and abuse, as a senior advisor for his 2024 campaign.
Trump defended Paris Dennard, a media surrogate and staffer, during his presidency after an official with Arizona State University said Dennard had been fired from a job after he had been accused of sexual harassment.
Trump called Dennard “wonderful” and said “past sexual indiscretions” would not affect who would hire for jobs in his presidential administration, the Washington Post reported.
Trump stood by that claim.
George Nader had already been convicted of being pedophile in the Czech Republic when he served as a Middle East advisor for Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign. In 2023, Nader was sentenced to ten years in federal prison for possession of child pornography and for bringing a minor to the country for sexual relations, Politico reported.
Ruben Verastiqui, Trump’s senior digital specialist, also was sentenced to federal prison after admitting his part in a conspiracy of possessing and trading child pornography involving babies. Politico reported that Verastigui, according to court documents, said in an online chat discussion in April of 2020 that he was “into” sexually assaulting babies. He also said he fantasized about killing children while abusing them.
Adam Hageman, who worked in the U.S. Commerce Department during the Trump administration, was sentenced to federal prison after admitting to possessing child pornography.
In addition, Ali Alexander, who organized the “Stop the Steal” campaign with three GOP congressmen to overturn the 2020 Presidential Election, admitted to sending inappropriate sexual messages to teenage boys.
Alexander was exposed by Milo Yiannapoulos, an alt-right political commentator, white supremacist, neo-Nazi, and himself a self-professed pedophile, and enthusiastic supporter of Donald Trump, The Daily Beast and Huffington Post reported.
Trump also has had extended friendships with sexual deviants – most notably Jeffrey Epstein, who committed suicide while in jail following his arrest on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges.
“I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy,” Trump told New York magazine in 2002. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”
Trump thought Epstein’s pedophilia was amusing.
Other Trump friends, including WWE CEO Vince McMahon; casino owner Steve Wynn;
Republican National Committee deputy finance chair Elliott Broidy; pizza entrepreneur Herman Cain who became head of the National Restaurant Association, and Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly all lost their jobs after accusations of rape, sexual assault, misconduct, or harassment.
O’Reilly paid $32 million to settle a lawsuit charging him with sexual harassment, the New York Times reported.
Trump defended O’Reilly against charges of sexual assault by multiple women, “I don’t think Bill did anything wrong,” Trump said. “He’s a good person.”
Trump apparently thinks there’s nothing wrong with sexual harassment, sexual assault, or perhaps even rape — and even if there is, it isn’t a reason to disqualify someone from a friendship, business association, or employment.
Trump may see it instead as an inducement.
Trump famously said in his interview with Access Hollywood:
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 ’em by the pussy. You can do anything.”
Trump initially apologizing for the remarks.
He then called the Access Hollywood interview a hoax.
