Editorial: Trump’s Insult to Women

Donald Trump’s accusation of hypocrisy against Hillary Clinton because of her response to her husband Bill’s infidelities is inappropriate as it meddles into matrimonial dynamics that are irrelevant to her candidacy. It would be equally wrong to dig into the intimate details of Trump’s three marriages with political purposes.

We worry that this is only a foretaste of a presidential campaign in which debate over the people’s priorities will be overshadowed by personal accusations and insults.

Of course, since it’s precisely by way of denigrating his rivals that Trump clinched the Republican nomination, it’s only logical that he remains committed to a strategy that has worked well for him. That’s why he keeps throwing mud at his rival and hoping some of it will stick.

This is the rationale behind accusing Hillary of having defended the former president when his affairs were first revealed, and then for criticizing her husband’s lovers. The candidate’s approach back then – without passing judgment – is the same of millions of women in a similar situation. Besides, this subject was thoroughly exhausted in the 1990s.

It’s difficult to tell whether Trump’s goal is to stir up the strong anti-Hillary feelings among Republicans, or to try to smear the candidate as a traitor to the women’s cause to pick up female votes – which tend to be Democratic. In the second case, the strategy is as stupid as his claim that he will be “better for women” than Hillary. Absurdity has no boundaries anymore.

Hillary Clinton has been in public life for many years, and the one thing that is beyond question is her commitment to women’s issues, be it in regard to labor, finance or child rearing. Saying that she reached her position only because she is a woman is an insult to all women who have been successful thanks to their effort. This strategy will not help Republicans recover the female vote they lost in previous elections.

Trump is a loose cannon hurling insults, inconsistencies and lies without caring for anything. Hopefully those offended will do care about this behavior when it’s time to vote.