Matthew Rozsa discusses Donald Trump’s creepy sexism… including his barely concealed lust for his daughter, Ivanka.
—
Let’s discuss the history of presidential creepiness. In this election, this is a discussion that really matters.
We can start with the author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, who raped his 14-year-old slave Sally Hemmings. Nearly a century later, Grover Cleveland became the first president to get married in the White House. His bride? Frances Folsom, whose father was Cleveland’s law partner. As an infant, Frances had been babysat by her “Uncle Cleve”. When Cleveland was asked why he wasn’t married he reportedly said “I’m waiting for my bride to grow up.” Flash forward to the Great Depression and you will find First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, whose maiden name was… um, Roosevelt (she was his fifth cousin once removed). And let us not forget Bill Clinton-–husband of America’s probable future first female president, Hillary Clinton—whose well-known philandering may very well have crossed the line into sexual harassment or quite possibly even rape.
So where does Donald Trump fit into this tradition of creepiness? Does he lean towards the incestuous (psychologically if not biologically), like Cleveland or Roosevelt, or does he betray a profound lack of respect for women’s bodies, like Jefferson and Clinton?
As it turns out, both!
The most obvious target is Trump’s barely concealed incestuous lust for his daughter, Ivanka. During a 2006 appearance on The View, he remarked that “if Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps I would be dating her.” Don’t worry, though, he had a completely rational reason for bringing this up…they were discussing whether she should pose nude in Playboy. Last year, The Donald returned to the subject in an interview with Rolling Stone in which he said “Yeah, [Ivanka’s] really something, and what a beauty, that one. If I weren’t happily married and, ya know, her father…”
As talk show host Trevor Noah put it, I’ve never been more grateful for ellipses than after reading that sentence. Having said this, there is one Trump-wants-to-bang-his-daughter quote that is more relevant than all the rest. It comes courtesy of a 2003 interview with comedian Howard Stern, in which the two men casually dished about women they considered hot or not. “You know who’s one of the great beauties of the world, according to everybody? And I helped create her. Ivanka,” he declared. “My daughter, Ivanka. She’s 6 feet tall, she’s got the best body. She made a lot money as a model—a tremendous amount.”
Bear in mind, this was an interview in which Stern and Trump were sizing up women as if they were slabs of meat existing only for male consumption. Even if one attributes Trump’s remark here to paternal pride instead of something less savory, it undeniably reduced his daughter’s worth to her physical beauty and perceived sexual desirability. This brings us to the second way in which Trump is creepy… namely, his absolute disregard for women as anything other than objects for carnal gratification.
Some telling quotes:
“All of the women on The Apprentice flirted with me— consciously or unconsciously. That’s to be expected.”
[On women] “You have to treat ’em like shit.”
[On sexual assault in the military] “26,000 unreported sexual assaults in the military-only 238 convictions. What did these geniuses expect when they put men & women together?”
[On the tough questions posed to him by Fox News host Megyn Kelly] “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.”
And, of course, this one about his likely opponent in the upcoming presidential election:
“If Hillary Clinton can’t satisfy her husband what makes her think she can satisfy America?”
It’s tempting to dismiss these comments for being misogynistic, which they certainly are. More importantly, though, they betray an inability to recognize women’s value as being more than what they can offer him as a man. His jab at Hillary Clinton is particularly revealing here because, jokingly or otherwise, he played off of the assumption that the best way to assess her worthiness for the White House was her marital relationship. Bear in mind, he is talking about a public figure who has dominated America’s political consciousness for almost a quarter-century, serving as one of the most influential First Ladies in history, a United States Senator, and Secretary of State. It is perfectly fine to disagree with her ideology or question her policy decisions, but attempting to sum up her career based on her presumed sexual prowess is more than just sexist. Because Trump clearly identifies with husband/patriarchal figures, there is an implicit narcissism in there as well. And when you are so narcissistic that you literally can’t value women beyond how they might please yourself, sexism evolves into creepiness.
That’s why, as Americans prepare for an election between its first major party female presidential candidate and the bloviating racist billionaire, it is entirely appropriate to use the word “creepy” in reference to the latter. It speaks not only to his personal proclivities, but a dangerous flaw in his larger worldview. Trump’s creepiness may not be unique in American presidential history, but it’s hopefully a tradition that we are ready to move past.
Source: 30dB.com – Donald Trump and Women and Comments
Illustration by Katie Hausman
I feel that you are looking into something which is nothing but great pride in his only daughter, whom he respects and loves very much as he does his other children. Anyone who dislikes another person can make mountains out of molehills if they don’s like the other person. Why you have to be looking for sleaze and degrading not only Donald Trump but having no respect for his daughter? It looks like you have nothing better to do and that you obviously dislike and are very jealous of Donald Trump???? Maybe because of his success?? Makes you think doesn’t… Read more »
“It’s tempting to dismiss these comments for being misogynistic, which they certainly are. More importantly, though, they betray an inability to recognize women’s value as being more than what they can offer him as a man.”
Aren’t these two sentences more or less the same thing? I’m not sure I would ever dismiss something as misogynistic, in the sense of thinking that it’s no big deal because it’s misogynistic. Do you mean “dismiss” as in “it’s no big deal, just misogyny”?
And many of those trump comments came from 20 and more years ago. Look. Those were years of open misogyny. Sexuality harassment just out of the 1960’s. Ugly for sure. Many are still like this. Sad but true. I don’t support trump either. He’s crude, at least now. But you guys are so rabid for the left candidates you can’t hardly think straight in fury. What do you want for the American future? Wealth distribution? Open borders? Just what, and have you considered how these will play out? Sounds good but I sincerely doubt you’ve had. I’ve asked repeatedly for… Read more »
Tom
Now you insult all women that did not divorce a man after his affair because we were married!
You know married Tom,with a promise not to leave but to love and therefor also to forgive.
That can not be described as giving your husband a free pass.
How can you even think like that?
This is an insult to all women and men that did not end their marriage when they found out their spouse cheated, had a fling. And they are many Tom,many many many many.
So please show some respect.
Mark – No one here is in a ‘fury’. A reasonable discussion has been happening here and you trying to paint it any other way is intellectually dishonest. Why are you defending Trump or the things he’s said about women? The history of the way he’s talked about women throughout his life, speaks for itself. If you can’t see that, you may want to ask yourself some questions. You should start to follow Trump on Twitter, you will find many recent comments about things he’s says and then quickly are deleted. By the way, the comments he made about his… Read more »
BTW, Trump has a lot of people who would not think very kindly of this statement, “The most obvious target is Trump’s barely concealed incestuous lust for his daughter,”
Some of you need to pay attention to your own candidates and I mean in an objective way. They aren’t doing too much to sway anyone in their direction. As I’ve said before, There are many like me who rely on countless other sources for an objective view of the candidates. If your intent is to sway us away from anyone, it won’t work in that GMP is an admittedly feminist site which lacks balance and sadly, when it comes to politics, lacks objectivity. Everytime I read/see these articles (at times don’t even read them), I get the feeling that… Read more »
That should have read ” .. people in your party.”
Tom – you speak as if you are the authority on objectivity and no one else is. You randomly attacked Hillary Clinton and her marriage above. That wasn’t objective. And wasn’t that also giving her free publicity that allows her supports to discredit the attackers which ultimately works in her favor? I mean come on, do you honestly think that people shouldn’t have the freedom to speak out against Trump? Do you honesty just try to say that speaking out against Trump only makes him more popular? I guess we should all just kiss his ass and tell him how… Read more »
Creep is the new “N” word being used to disparage men today.
Mr. Rozsa, it is high time you grow up. Just because someone does not subscribe to your liberal nonsense doe not make them a “creep.”
It’s Mr. Rozsa’s time to grow up? Because he correctly points out that Trump’s comments are creepy? Would it be better to say that Trump’s comments are sexist and racist? Because they are. That has nothing to do with being ‘liberal’. How is it that this man is so popular but says the most horrifyingly racists and sexists things possible? His daughter is a successful business woman. I have never heard Trump talk about her skills as a business woman. He really said those things about his own daughter Jules. He really said he’s be doing her himself if he… Read more »
Do you support Hillary? Wanna dig something up on her mmmmm like her being against gay marriage to name one off the top. There are plenty of clips where she’s changed her views. Afterall, she gave Bill a free pass on his antics in the White House. This “women,” had she not been the presidents wife would have been advised by every feminist around, to drop his sorry ass.
So, if ya want to dig up laundry …..
Tom
Now you insult all women that did not divorce a man after his affair because we were married!
You know married Tom,with a promise not to leave but to love and therefor also to forgive.
That can not be described as giving your husband a free pass.
How can you even think like that?
This is an insult to all women and men that did not end their marriage when they found out their spouse cheated, had a fling. And they are many Tom,many many many many.
So please show some respect.
Kim, Nice try to twist what I said. Some feminist said and are saying the same thing I did. We’re not talking about Mary and Frank down the street, we’re talking about the wife of the President who was in office. A highly visible women who could have easily used her situation as a platform for women. And that platform didn’t have to have a divorce in it but one that could show how a marital relationship can be mended. She did none of that, she glossed over it as though nothing happen.
Tom – I asked some pretty simple questions about Trump and you could only respond by making someone else, in this case Hillary Clinton, a target instead. My comments had nothing to do with Hillary, why do yours? I will ask you again. Are the things that Trump has said about women okay? Are the things Trump said about his own daughter okay? You have a daughter right? Would you feel comfortable talking about her and saying you’d be with her if she wasn’t your daughter? How would your daughter feel about that? By the way, you have no clue… Read more »
Tom – I was hoping you’d come back to this discussion. What are your thoughts on what Trump has said about women? Are the things Trump says about women okay? These are simple questions. Yes you agree with Trump about women or No, what he says about women isn’t okay?
Actually I missed your gloss over on Clinton with the likes of grover Cleveland. My bad. You say that this now, but only in relation to trump. I know why you do this. In the immortal words of good Ole Hillary, “what difference does it make now, anyway?” . Btw. If elected that should be her personal presidential flag.
From November 2014 – http://www.dailydot.com/opinion/bill-clinton-rape-allegations-still-matter/
Oh for the sweet love of Joseph, Mary and Jesus. Will you please, please get off the Donald train already. Anything you can think of to say about him, bsed on innuendo more than really anything else, is for the sole purpose of smearing his person. I note you said nothing about Billy Bob Clinton, who violated every single tenet of the liberal hate for sexuality harassment with his interns, yes, I said plural interns. It was not their ages but with his position and power over them. If Cosby used drugs, Bill used power/position over direct subordinates. This would… Read more »
The article is about Trump, not Clinton (either of them). What any other person does has nothing to do with what Trump actually said and did, which is the topic of the article. How you’re dragging Bill Cosby and liberals into this, I have no idea.
Hey Mark…He’s saying this stuff about HIS DAUGHTER….(wonder what you’d be saying if Obama said the same thing about his daughter, or any other woman for that matter. And one more thing go and look up trumps interview on the Wendy Williams show. Do this right now then reply back here on your thoughts…seriously.
(1) go to youtube and search “donald trump wendy williams”
(2) look for the clip titled “Donald Trump Hates Michelle Obamas Bangs” (don’t worry about the title, ok)
(3) fast forward to the 2:00 mark of the clip and watch.
(4)….your thoughts?……………………………..this should be priceless.