NEW YORK–(ENEWSPF)–October 25, 2016
S.E. Cupp
The cries of “Don’t blame us for Trump” are growing ever louder among Republicans, and Tuesday the Washington Post brings a one-two punch from the Republican women of CNN. Or, make that, the Republican women who’ve been somewhat sidelined at CNN as the network has highlighted devoted Trump supporters like Kayleigh McEnany and Scottie Nell Hughes. It’s just terrible for them. Take poor Amanda Carpenter:
As a former communications aide to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and former senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), I can personally testify that Republican women have, for years, fended off accusations from the Democrats of the party’s allegedly anti-woman beliefs. What did we get for it? The nomination — by way of a largely older, male voting base — of a brazen and unapologetic misogynist.
I want to ask the men leading the GOP some questions. Why didn’t you defend women from this raging sexist especially after so many Republican women — for so many years — eagerly defended the party from charges of sexism? You must make us out for fools.
“We defended the party from charges of sexism when it came to opposing equal pay and denying women control over their own bodies, and now for some reason the party won’t defend us from misogyny. What could possibly have happened here?” Carpenter’s not the only one:
For conservative women like Cupp, this election has become a nightmare. Their opinions on typical Republican grist like tax plans and health care are no longer of interest (though that’s the case for the male commentators, too). These women say they would rather be explaining why Hillary Clinton is a bad choice for president — but Trump is like a massive asteroid blocking out all of the sun that might shine in a normal election.
Instead, they are asked to weigh in nightly on whether grabbing a woman’s genitals or groping someone on an airplane classifies as assault — and opine on whether these things actually occurred.
“Why can’t I fulfill my dream of talking about denying health care to poor people and cutting taxes on the wealthy?”
Obviously women like Cupp and Carpenter get credit for avoiding the shamelessness of McEnany and Hughes, but we’re talking like two bonus points on an otherwise failing exam. And let’s not miss that what they’re doing here is trying to separate the “real” Republican Party from the party of Trump … except that Trump is the real Republican Party. He’s the choice of the party’s voters, and the party’s leaders have stuck with him. He represents not a departure from the party’s policies but a logical extension of them. And if Trump doesn’t think women have the right not to be groped by him, well, the Republican Party has spent the last several years trying to force women to have medically unnecessary ultrasounds as one of the costs of making their own healthcare decisions. So let’s not give the Cupps and Carpenters of the world one bit more credit than they deserve, okay?
Source: http://dailykos.com
