During a rally at the key state of Michigan just days before Election Day, President Donald Trump appealed to women voters, assuring that he would help their husbands to regain their lost jobs and the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic that shuttered businesses across the nation. He first posed a question to the women at the rally if their husbands are waiting to get back to work, adding that cure can never be worse than the actual problem.
Shortly before making this remark, the president claimed he has the support of the women voters. He said they would back him in the presidential election because he can give them everything they want, including law and order and their safety. Trump said women are great, and he loves them more than the men, noting that he can't help it.
Multiple reports during the pandemic suggest more women have lost their jobs as compared to the men, which according to some experts, can be deemed as the United States' first female recession, slowing down several employment gains women had made earlier. With jobs in women-dominated sectors being impacted, child care options were also reduced.
Jobs report data in Sept. showed that nearly 865,000 women left the workforce, while 216, 000 men did the same. Aside from that, about 54 percent of jobs lost since the pandemic began were women's jobs. Critics on Twitter described Trump's promise to get husbands back to work as sexist.
Michigan State Senator Curtis Hertel said it looked as if Trump doesn’t even know what century he is running for president in. During his Pennsylvania campaign two weeks earlier, the president urged suburban women to support him because he saved their neighborhood.
In an interview on CBS 60 Minutes, the president said he was "kidding" when he asked suburban women to like him. Trump told Lesley Stahl that he said he was joking when he said suburban women love him because he was giving them security.
Much to his chagrin, women voters don't seem to be paying heed since he continues to trail Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in polling. A New York Times/Siena College poll, which was published earlier this month, shows a significant 23-point gap between the two leaders.
About 58 percent of women voters are supporting Biden, while only 35 percent are backing Trump. Quinnipiac shows women voters supporting Biden by 60 - 34 percent.