Donald Trump has criticized Carly Fiorina’s looks, saying of his only female Republican presidential rival: “Look at that face. Would anybody vote for that?”
He has said that listening to Fiorina’s voice gives him a “massive headache.” He has mocked her business career and has gleefully declared how “viciously” she was fired by Hewlett-Packard.
Today, Trump shares a stage with Fiorina for the first time, in the second Republican presidential debate.
Photo: AFP
Political strategists warn male candidates to use caution when debating against a female rival, but never before in US presidential politics has a candidate who has drawn charges of sexism and bullying been forced to personally confront the female recipient of his insults on live television, and with Fiorina bragging that she is getting under Trump’s skin, their showdown is emerging as one of the most intriguing subplots of the second debate.
In the first Republican debate last month, Trump defended having called women “fat pigs” and “disgusting animals,” and he later implied that the moderator, Megyn Kelly of Fox News, had asked him tough questions because she was menstruating, a comment that saw him uninvited from an influential conservative gathering where Fiorina gave a rousing speech.
Fiorina stood out in the “undercard” of the first Republican debate and since then she has edged up in the polls to earn a spot on the main stage with Trump, but the presence of the two has prompted concern — and a lot of curiosity — in a party eager to take on Hillary Rodham Clinton and worried about how Trump will fare debating against a woman.
“I’m not going to call her honey,” Trump said in an interview last week, adding: “Look, she’s only got 3 percent in the polls, so in order to get recognition I think she’ll start hitting me. So I think she’s fair game.”
Trump said he was preparing to criticize the record — and not the appearance — of Fiorina, who was fired as the chief executive of Hewlett-Packard.
“I want to talk about her corporate history, her failures at Hewlett-Packard, and that will be damaging enough to her,” Trump said.
The usual rules of decorum have so far not applied to Trump, whose standing in the polls has only increased after incendiary comments about women, immigrants and Republican Senator John McCain’s war record, but while his derision of two opponents — Jeb Bush (“low energy”) and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (“failed governor”) — has coincided with their decline in the polls, Fiorina has gained ground as Trump has showered insults on her.
Fiorina responded to Trump’s comments by telling Fox News: “Maybe, just maybe, I am just getting under his skin a little bit because I am climbing in the polls.”
Trump eventually said that he was referring to Fiorina’s “persona” when he made the remarks.
Fiorina now appears poised to be the best candidate to bring out the side of Trump that has drawn accusations of misogyny — a tactic some Republicans hope Fiorina will embrace today.
“Instead of shutting him down, there’s a way to pat poor Donald, the chauvinistic pig, on the head,” said Rob Stutzman, a Republican strategist in Sacramento, California.
Trump said he would not be chauvinistic.
“I wouldn’t do that; I won’t do that,” he said. “Though, if I did — well, people would just hit me with political correctness, which, again, people are so tired of.”
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