Former President Trump said Wednesday that his advisers had counseled him against describing himself as a "protector" for women, a phrase he used in late September as he sought to make up ground with female voters and repeated again at a Wisconsin rally.
"My people told me about four weeks ago, I would say, 'No, I want to protect the people; I want to protect the women of our country. I want to protect the women,'" Trump said at a Green Bay, Wis., rally.
"They said, 'Sir, I just think it's inappropriate for you to say.' I pay these guys a lot of money; can you believe it?" Trump continued. "I said, 'Well, I'm going to do it whether the women like it or not. I'm going to protect them. I'm going to protect them from migrants coming in. I'm going to protect them from foreign countries that want to hit us with missiles and lots of other things.'"
Harris campaign aides were quick to highlight the remarks, arguing it showed Trump did not care about women voters.
"Defining line of this campaign? Trump: 'I'm gonna do it whether the women like it or not,'" Harris campaign spokesperson James Singer posted on X.
"Saying the quiet part out loud there," Lauren Hitt, another Harris campaign aide, posted on X.
Trump at a late September rally sought to directly address the women in the crowd, telling them, "I am your protector. I want to be your protector. As president, I have to be your protector. I hope you don't make too much of it. I hope the fake news doesn't go, 'Oh, he wants to be their protector.' Well, I am. As president, I have to be your protector."
Trump has had trouble winning over female voters in his past two presidential campaigns, and polls have shown that he once again trails Harris, who has rapidly consolidated support among female voters since she replaced President Biden atop the Democratic ticket. Harris has made reproductive rights central to her campaign, blaming Trump for the end of Roe v. Wade and the restrictive abortion bans subsequently passed by states across the country.
But Trump has led Harris among male voters, setting up a significant gender gap ahead of Election Day.
