everyday sexism

Phyllis Schlafly Doesn’t Think We Need a Female President Because ‘Our Greatest Presidents Have All Been Men’

Okay, Phyllis.
Okay, Phyllis. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

In case you haven’t heard, women aren’t exactly lining up to support the Republican presidential candidate. Donald Trump has some serious issues where women’s equality is concerned, and his vice-presidential pick, Mike Pence, isn’t much better. But at least one woman is pulling hard for the Trump-Pence team because, quite simply, she doesn’t think American women would be better off with a female president.

Phyllis Schlafly, notorious anti-feminist and equal-rights amendment opponent, told Think Progress that there’s no reason to put a woman in the White House. “Our greatest presidents have all been men,” she said, “and they’ve been very good for our country.”

Schlafly went on to agree with the Republican party platform, which makes no mention of equal pay or paid family leave. “[That’s] not what we want at all,” she said. “Women don’t need anything special. We’ve got very generous family leave right now. I do think the support of the children is the responsibility of the husband, not the employer.” To all those single moms out there: tough luck.

But paid leave isn’t her biggest point of contention — that would be the opening of military combat roles to women, which Clinton has supported. “It’s terrible because once you go in the army, you go where you’re told, and women are not suitable for combat and can’t do combat as well as men,” she said, despite evidence to the contrary. “It’s endangering the survival of our country to pretend that women can engage in military combat like men.”

Phyllis Schlafly: No Need for a Female President