politics

Not Even Republican Women Can Bring Themselves to Vote for Donald Trump

Many Republican women are voting for Hillary Clinton. Photo: JASON CONNOLLY/AFP/Getty Images

Donald Trump has never been a favorite with women voters, but according to Politico, he’s polled consistently poorly with one crucial group: white, college-educated women. The GOP nominee is losing educated white women to Hillary Clinton, 57 to 27 percent, or by a margin of 30 points. And although both white men and women without college degrees and white men with degrees are more likely to vote Trump, his unpopularity with women might cost him the election.

With a margin that large, it’s not surprising that some of the women spurning Trump this election are also women who traditionally vote Republican. And although the reasons for their defection vary, most cite Trump’s abysmal record with women as a reason they’re voting for Clinton instead.

“Any Republican left who still thinks voting for Trump is a good idea, just ask yourself: ‘If you had a daughter, the things that he has said to female journalists, if he said those exact things to your daughter, could you still vote for him?’” Sarah, a 35-year-old attorney raised in Alabama, told Politico.

Carol, a 32-year-old graduate of Tulane University and the University of Houston law school, agreed. “When you see the leader of your country, his job is to be that leader, and characterizing women in derogatory ways — somebody says something he doesn’t like and she’s a bitch or she’s fat or ugly,” she said. “We’re creating an environment where it’s acceptable to characterize women like that. I think it’s scary, and it would really take us quite a few paces back.”

Carol isn’t alone; a recent Time/SurveyMonkey poll of nearly 5,500 female registered voters found that 53 percent of women are feeling “scared” about the election so far, versus 37 percent of men.

Not Even Republican Women Like Donald Trump