Trump vows to ‘protect’ women ‘whether the women like it or not’

Dressed in a bright orange safety vest to troll Democrats in the war of words over comments in which Puerto Rico was called a “floating island of garbage” at another MAGA rally, Donald Trump told a crowd in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Wednesday that he wants to protect the women of America – whether they like it or not.

He even admitted that his campaign had told him not to say that, saying that they called it inappropriate. Online, people called it “threatening.”

“And my people told me about four weeks ago,” the former president began, “I want to protect the people, I want to protect the women of our country, I want to protect the women.”

Switching to his well-worn impression of a staffer, he continued: “Sir, please don’t say that … We think it’s very inappropriate to say so.”

Back in character as himself, Trump carried on: “Why? I’m president, I want to protect the women of our country.”

As cheers broke out from the crowd, the Republican nominee noted he pays his advisers a lot of money.

Concluding his skit and returning to the subject of being a “protector” to all women, he said: “Well, I’m going to do it whether the women like it or not.”

He added: “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.”

Going further, he asked whether there was any woman in the stadium who would like not to be protected, which was met with silence.

Asking if there was any woman who wanted to be protected by the president, a loud cheer went up.

Reaction online was less enthusiastic.

“It’s actually hilarious how he somehow made his pandering sound threatening,” said one poster on X.

“When you’re a star they let you do it… Hard pass,” said another, referring to the infamous Access Hollywoodtape in which Trump boasted about grabbing women “by the p***y”.

MSNBC’s Katie Phang similarly said: “Trump’s nonconsensual ‘protection’ is a hard pass.”

James Singer, rapid response advisor for Kamala Harris wondered whether Trump saying “I’m gonna do it whether the women like it or not” might be the “defining line of this campaign”.

Author James Surowieki posted that it would be a good soundbite for a Harris ad, noting: “Trump’s advisers were actually giving him good advice: being paternalistic alienates college-educated suburban women. Trump not only ignored them: he just tripled down on it.”

Kamala Harris spokesperson Sarafina Chitika was ahead of him: “This will be what women remember as we head to the polls to reject Donald Trump for ripping away our freedoms.”

Daily Kos reporter Emily C Singer quipped: “Help, 911, I need to report a freak cosplaying as a garbage man making threatening comments.”