Donald Trump has been around the block. He has campaigned thrice for political office, and is doing well among all demographics. 1-in-4 black men support him, and about half of Hispanic and Latino voters support him in the 2024 election. 270toWin polling has Trump currently leading his opponent Kamala Harris narrowly in all but one battleground state, the state of Wisconsin.
Despite this, polls are not votes, and polls are not going to determine the 2024 election, votes will. Trump has all the cards in his hands necessary to win the election on November 5th. Inflation is the top issue among all voters, according to Gallup, an issue Trump leads in. Seventy percent of voters think we as a country are heading in the wrong direction, and sixty percent say they are living paycheck-to-paycheck. Trump has now surpassed Kamala Harris in the betting markets and opinion polling. All these signs should give Trump an easy victory if he turns out the voters.
But what if he doesn’t?
It’s easy to ask that question. One demographic that Trump is lagging in is suburban women. It’s easy to see why; he praised the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe V. Wade, and many states have banned abortion with very few exceptions. But another issue is a very solvable one: his mouth. He has a habit of speaking unfiltered and having very little concern for those he may offend.
Recently, Trump criticized Harris’s appearance on the View, calling her and the all-female panel “dumb women” and was slammed by feminists and women in general. He also called her “incompetent” and even said that she was “mentally challenged.”
He has a history of unfiltered sexist remarks, going back to 2016 when Trump was confronted at the GOP primary debate by Megyn Kelly about his past tweets, calling women “dogs” and “slobs”. He responded with his now infamous quote: “Only Rosie O’Donnell.” He’s a showman and feeds off of people’s reactions, whether they’re controversial or not. He gets just as much of a buzz from the laughter as he does from the media scolding him.
He went on to win the election, but lost the popular vote by almost 3 million to Hillary Clinton. Harris would be the first female president if she wins the election, and she would break the ultimate glass ceiling. She would be a role model for young girls all over the world, and Trump cutting her down with these insults don’t help him with anyone but his own base.
By this point Trump’s already established his base, what he needs to do now is bring in people from outside of it, people who aren’t very warm to either candidate. And attacking Harris isn’t the way to do it.
His support among women is currently at 44%, while in 2020 it was 42% and in 2016 it was 41%. So his support is actually increasing, but as I said before, polls are not votes. The polls could very well be incorrect or biased so if he wants to win, he needs to ignore the polls and actually reach out to demographics he’s failing in, such as women, and talk to them about the issues they care about the most. And for the love of all that is good, watch his mouth.
