When audio tapes of Donald Trump talking about sexually assaulting women were released, many predicted that it would ruin his campaign. However, instead of asking him to resign, many Republican party leaders just released bland statements claiming that Trump regretted his rudeness and was now a changed man. This decision has been supported by many of the enthusiasts who are still campaigning for Trump, and sadly, many make it clear that their support of Trump is rooted in sexist beliefs.
A video posted by Right Wing Watch shows Dave Daubenmire, a former candidate in Ohio politics, saying that Trump ought to be president because the other choice is a woman. Daubenmire has received some attention in the past for controversial statements such as claiming that anti-bullying charities are a part of “the homosexual agenda.” He was also fired from his job as a coach at a public high school because he was forcing all members of his team to pray Christian prayers with him, regardless of their individual religious beliefs.
In his speech, Daubenmire says, “[W]hen is the last time your pastor stood up in the pulpit and said, ‘Hey, listen, we cannot vote for Hillary Clinton because women are not to have authority over men’? If we want to follow the Bible, that would sure be a good place to start, wouldn’t it? Rather than worrying so much about the immorality of a sinful man, what about the biblical principle that when a woman rules over a man … it’s a sign of judgment of the Lord?”
Daubenmire’s bizarre claims that a female president would be worse than a president who admits to sexual assault are just one of the many examples of right-wing Christian extremists continuing to support Trump. Pat Robertson from the 700 Club also dismissed Trump’s statements about being able to grab women’s genitals without their permission as just a silly example of Trump trying to appear macho.
It would be pleasant to dismiss Daubenmire’s statements as the opinions of one bizarre extremist, but sadly, his opinions seem to be in line with many people in the Republican party. After years of running campaigns based on strong family values, the Republicans overwhelmingly chose to support a man who has obviously lax morals. Though more and more evidence of Trump’s ethical failings and lack of family values is being revealed, the Republicans were definitely aware of some of these issues from the beginning.
Several polls have revealed that Trump has almost no female support by this point. Women are not willing to trust the future of their nation and families in the hands of a man who has such a clear disrespect for them. Even women who formerly criticized Clinton feel that she is preferable to ending up in a nation headed by Trump. Hopefully, the opinions of countless women will outweigh the opinions of men like Daubenmire.
Despite Trump’s clear lack of interest in supporting the traditional nuclear families that Republicans spend so much time campaigning about, he was still elected as their candidate due to his xenophobic and anti-immigrant views. At this point, it seems clear that Republicans are united around hatred of immigrants and other ethnicities instead of a desire to support families and strong morals. The fact that so many people are still supporting Trump shows the Republican party has clearly deserted the many women who used to support it so strongly.