Leftists are trying to turn the “Hillary doesn’t look well” rumble into a “Donald Trump’s a sexist pig” narrative.
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By claiming that calling someone “weak,” who “looks sick” and “lacks stamina” is sexist, Clinton’s supporters are trying to squash the snowballing rumors that Hillary really is ill.
Of course, in today’s America, anything at all that you say about a female is inherently sexist.
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Say a woman looks pretty? Sexist. Ugly? REALLY sexist. Aggressive? Very sexist. Passive? Super-sexist, you pig.
Last week, Trump said that Clinton “lacks the mental and physical stamina to take on ISIS and all the many adversaries we face.” That’s sexist.
He also has drawn attention to Hillary’s shrill tone and caterwauling voice, saying that listening to her gives him a headache.
And – since none of that is really sexist at all, the Associated Press points to the one thing that Trump said that specifically references her gender as evidence of his misogyny.
Almost a year ago, he said that she “puts on her pantsuit in the morning.” That’s it.
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A frequent point of criticism: Clinton doesn’t look like a typical president.
“Now you tell me she looks presidential, folks,” he said at a recent rally in New Hampshire.
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“I look presidential,” he insisted.
Trump’s allies have piled on. Running mate Mike Pence often uses the word “broad-shouldered” to describe Trump’s leadership and foreign policy style, a tacit swipe at Clinton. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani argued that all of the miles Clinton logged during as Secretary of State resulted in more harm than benefit.
Of course, if anybody has brought gender into this race, it’s Hillary. She repeatedly touts her gender, playing it up to throngs of adoring, lonely, feminist women that she is the first female candidate for president.
Of course, Donald Trump is not singling out Hillary for demeaning criticism. Does anybody remember the primaries? He called Jeb Bush “low energy,” Ted Cruz was “Lyin’ Ted,” and Marco Rubio was “Little Marco.”
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This is what most politicians try to do: look macho and manly. If you don’t, you risk looking like Michael Dukakis.
Kelly Dittmar, a scholar at the Rutgers University’s Eagleton Institute of Politics’ Center for American Women and Politics said: “His message has been: I’m the manliest candidate, I’m the strongest, I know how to protect women – which is a pretty paternalistic take on it – I’m going to destroy ISIS and be very tough, to the point where he’s talking about the size of his own manhood,” she said of the candidate. “If you’re trying to prove you’re the manliest, then you’re trying to emasculate your opponent.”
