What’s Behind Trump’s Toxic Misogyny?

Sometimes I think that, while growing up, Donald Trump must have felt unloved by his
emotionally absent mother. He is so consumed by his misogyny – his hatred for women
– that it doesn’t take a mental-health expert to see his underlying insecurity.

Toxic misogyny has long been central to Trump’s identity. It came into play when he
faced Hillary Clinton in 2016 and now again as he confronts another woman. Following
Kamala Harris’ nominating speech, he contacted Fox News hosts to rant and bluster.
He posted on Truth Social, labeling his opponent a “TOTAL DISASTER” and claiming
she will “take us into Nuclear World War III.”

Rejecting advice from allies, Trump insists he is entitled to attack Kamala Harris on a
personal basis. Women who have opposed him are “nasty,” “crazy,” “lying,” and
“crooked.” He said it of Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi, now he’s using his shop-worn
rhetoric to describe Kamala Harris. In private he disparages Harris as “not smart,” “a
DEI hire,” “lazy” and “a bitch.”

At the same time, Trump works at praising male autocrats as “strong” and “powerful.”
He describes leaders like Putin, Victor Orbán and Kim Jong-un as “smart” and “savvy.”
His misogyny is linked to a patriarchal mindset. In his view, guys, particularly white
guys, matter; women, branded as “weak,” do not.

Trump has stamped his sexist views on the Republican Party. Those views pervaded the MAGA movement after the recent assassination attempt. There were verbal attacks on the Secret Service and its diversity by prominent Republicans including
Representatives Tim Burchett of Tennessee, James Comer of Kentucky and Cory Mills
of Florida. One Fox News commentator said, “That’s what happens when you put a
woman in charge [of the Secret Service].” Pressures from the GOP pushed Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to retire.

Trump’s selection of JD Vance as vice presidential nominee echoes Trump’s anti-woman stance. Some say that Vance says out loud what others are quietly thinking. Vance’s misogyny ranges from his “childless cat ladies” slur to targeting too-easy divorce and promoting the Comstock Act to curtail birth-control access.

Inherent in Trump’s misogyny is his insatiable need to control women. It is spelled out
in words like his Access Hollywood assertion, “when you’re a star they let you do it,” as
well as in deeds such as his assault on E. Jean Carroll. As many as 25 other women
have come forward with allegations about his behavior.

Intertwined with Trump’s hatred is his whining over unfairness: the sense that he’s the aggrieved party, mistreated by women. When Megyn Kelly asked him during a 2016 debate about his characterizing women as “pigs, dogs and disgusting slobs,” he asserted her questioning “treated me unfairly.” His sense of victimhood now extends to Vice President Harris. He insists, “I beat him (Biden) and now I have to beat her too.”

During his exchange with Elon Musk on X, he accused Biden of being “a stalking horse” for Harris’ campaign. He charged Harris with having gained the Democratic nomination unfairly, calling her candidacy “illegal.” Packed crowds at Harris’ rallies are another Trump preoccupation. He calls her rallies fake,” alleging they were created by A-I. Crowd sizes and viewership numbers have always been an obsession with him. His crowds must always be “the greatest ever” — even when they are not.

We can expect even more of Trump’s clumsy attempts to define Harris in coming days.
He has been trying to make her seem “the other.” He scoffs at her racial identity and
mispronounces her name. He sometimes accuses her of being a communist, “a radical
left freak” at others. In one diatribe, he called her “a radical California liberal who broke
the economy, broke the border and broke the world, frankly.”

It’s obvious that Harris has gotten inside Trump’s head. It’s bad for his candidacy that
Trump is so nakedly hostile. By extension his unhinged rants are an electoral danger.
They have the potential to further alienate women, giving offense to those who vote.