In a sad attempt to make up for his unequivocal bigotry, Donald Trump told a Las Vegas radio station on Wednesday that his sexist comments about women were “done for the purpose of entertainment.”
This response came when the interviewer asked Trump whether or not he could “understand the concern from parents of younger girls [that his comments] could be hurtful to girls struggling with body image and the pressure to be model-perfect.” Trump went on to say that “there’s nobody that has more respect for women than I do.”
Um, yeah. That’s not what your history of hate speech with regard to women (and so many other groups of people) would indicate. From fat-shaming Kim Kardashian to insulting and slut-shaming Miss Universe winner Alicia Machado—not to mention accusations that his presidential campaign in its entirety is sexist—Donald Trump is pretty firmly on the wrong side of gender equality and “respect for women.”
And the claim that his role as an entertainer justifies this behavior makes it even worse. This argument suggests that the women and other minority groups can be used as fodder for the amusement or pleasure of others. This kind of conduct cannot be tolerated from anyone, let alone someone we're considering electing to the most powerful public office in the world.
Asked about his comments about physical attributes of women, Trump: "A lot of that was done for the purpose of entertainment."pic.twitter.com/vk13Tpt1GI
— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) October 6, 2016
Cosmopolitan points out that Trump has tried this line of defense before—in March he said of his many derogatory remarks, “I’m no different than anybody else, and people joke, and I joke.” Comedy has its place, sure, but Donald Trump is not a comedian. When he denigrates women and other people who are different from him to advance political arguments or put those people down, it is most definitely not funny—it’s unacceptable.
It can be hard to hear the inane comments of Trump over and over and not want to give up entirely, but continuing to talk about the messed up things he says (and what he thinks gives him the right to say them) is important. What do you think of Donald Trump’s attitudes towards women and other minority groups?