Republicans acknowledge that Donald Trump has a problem with women in the presidential race.
But they say it’s not too late for the former president to change course in order to sway a critical voting bloc that could help catapult him to reelection.
A Quinnipiac University poll this week showed Vice President Harris with a solid lead over Trump among female voters, with 53 percent said they would support Harris and 41 percent voicing support for Trump.
It’s an election cycle where abortion rights is expected to be a huge issue, and Harris and Trump are racing in the first presidential election since the seismic Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
Trump is indelibly tied to the decision, as he appointed three of the Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe.
That’s not the only issue animating some voters, either. Running mate Sen. JD Vance’s (R-Ohio) past remarks about “childless cat ladies” have been a headache for Trump. It’s a quote pop superstar Taylor Swift even noted when she made her endorsement of Harris.
GOP strategists say Trump can still turn things around, but that he needs to pivot quickly with just a little more than a month to go before Election Day.
“He needs to say ‘You’re not voting for your pastor. You’re not voting for your spouse. This isn’t about liking me. You’re looking for someone to lead and I am that leader. This is about getting s**t done,’” said GOP strategist Shermichael Singleton.
“His messaging has to be laser-focused on moms,” Singleton said. “Economic security, stability certainly are what they care about most. They want to know that their families are protected and their future is secure. If Trump can make them feel like he’s the one who can deliver that, then he’s got a real opportunity to increase his margins.
“It’s about trust, consistency, and making it clear that he has their best interests at heart even if they disagree with him on reproductive rights,” he concluded.
Trump has sought in recent weeks to directly appeal to women.
He has emphasized that the Supreme Court decision kicked abortion rights to the states, arguing that is what most voters want. He’s also said he would not call for a nationwide abortion ban, and vowed to not use the Comstock Act to outlaw mail delivery of abortion drugs.
But he also said he would vote “no” on a ballot measure in Florida that would amend the state’s constitution to protect abortion rights, even after he noted days earlier that “you need more time than six weeks.”
Trump is in a tough spot on the issue. He ran toward the center on abortion, compared to several rivals for the GOP nomination, during his party’s primary. But he’s also sought to not alienate the religious right on the issue.
Some political observers argue Trump can’t have it both ways.
“He’s talking on both sides of his mouth and people see through that,” said Katherine Jellison, a professor of history at Ohio University who is a longtime scholar of women’s studies.
At a campaign rally in Pennsylvania earlier this week, Trump said he didn’t have a problem with women.
“I always thought women liked me. I never thought I had a problem but the fake news keeps saying women don’t like me,” he said. “I don’t believe it.
During the rally, Trump said women are “less safe” and “much poorer” under President Biden and he pledged to end what he called a “national nightmare” for them.
“Because I am your protector. I want to be your protector,” he continued. “As president, I have to be your protector. I hope you don’t make too much of it. I hope the fake news doesn’t go, ‘Oh he wants to be their protector.’ Well, I am. As president, I have to be your protector.”
Harris has put abortion rights at the center of her campaign, and pushed back on Trump’s assertion in an interview on MSNBC.
Harris pointed to Trump’s statement in 2016 saying that “there has to be some form of punishment” for women who have abortions if they are banned.
The former president “said women should be punished for exercising a decision that they rightly should be able to make about their own body and their future,” Harris said in the interview. “So I think we would all agree that as a result of that perspective that he has about women, he also then chose three members of the United States Supreme Court who did as he intended: undid the protections of Roe v. Wade.”
“I don’t think the women of America need him to say he’s going to protect them,” Harris added. “The women of America need him to trust them.”
Some Republicans say Trump and his surrogates have at times undermined their own case with women with personal attacks on Harris. Trump has insulted the vice president’s intelligence, saying she’s “not very smart.”
“She doesn’t like doing interviews. And she’s not knowledgeable about the economy and various things, and I think it would be a problem,” Trump said in a recent interview on Fox News. “But you know what? [Biden] was pretty much gone. They said ‘Joe, it’s over. You’re getting out. And they put her in, and somehow — a woman — somehow she’s doing better than he did.”
“’Stop doing that,’ is the first, second, and third thing you tell Trump,” said GOP strategist Doug Heye.
Republican strategist Susan Del Percio, who does not support Trump, said that when Trump talks about immigration, crime and the economy, “that resonates” particularly with suburban women.
She suggested the problem is that Trump won’t stick to that message, arguing he can’t stay disciplined with his messaging.
“But that’s what he’s supposed to do all the time anyway and he doesn’t change it,” Del Percio said. “And he would be better off with any swing voter in that case, not just women.”