Donald Trump is a joke. Let’s have that be said. A bit like Boris Johnson, he’s got a heavy crop of blond hair and prides himself on being deliberately politically incorrect. And like Nigel Farage (or, well, some of the UK’s cabinet, who’ve called immigrants ‘marauding’ and ‘swarming’), he uses a whipped up fear of the outsider to make people unite in their adoration for him.
For example, Trump has said that he’ll build a ‘great great wall’ between the US and Mexico because the US has ‘become a dumping ground’ where Mexico is ‘sending people that have lots of problems’ to America, including ‘rapists’ and people who are ‘bringing crime’ and ‘bringing drugs’.
The problem is, some of his right-wing rhetoric seems to be going down a treat with Republican supporters, and on the weekend’s Republican presidential candidate debate, he came out with the most support, polling at 23%, while his nearest competitor, Ted Cruz, only got 13%. Jeb Bush (brother of George W Bush), meanwhile, only got 7% of the vote. If Trump carries on this way, he really could be in the running for president.
But one thing’s got in his way. His period joke.
You see, Donald’s been obscene to women for a long time, especially while working on The Apprentice (yes, he’s also America’s answer to Lord Alan Sugar). So Fox News’s Megyn Kelly, who chaired the GOP (Grand Old Party, it’s the nickname for the Republicans, used like we’d say ‘Tories’ for Conservatives) debate, called him out on this:
‘You’ve called women you don’t like fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals,’ to which he said, to much laughter and applause: ‘Only Rosie O’Donnell.’
She responded, slowly: ‘For the record, it was well beyond Rosie O’Donnell. Your Twitter account has several disparaging comments about women’s looks. You once told a contestant of _Celebrity Apprentic_e it would be a “pretty picture” to see her “on her knees”.
‘Does that sound to you like the temperament of a man we should elect as President? And how will you answer the charge from Hillary Clinton, who is likely to be the Democratic nominee, that you are part of the war on women?’
Donald’s response, to much cheering, applause, and whooping (the crowd is full of right-wingers right wing enough to go to a GOP Presidential debate), was: ‘I think the big problem this country has, is being politically correct.’
He then explained that both he and the US don’t have time to be politically correct because ‘what I say is what I say, and honestly Megyn, if you don’t like it, I’m sorry. I’ve been very nice to you although I could maybe not be based on the way you have treated me.’
After throwing down the threat, Donald later whinged in a post-debate interview that Megyn had been too hard on him. And he told CNN that this was because: ‘You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever.’
He’s now denied the comment was about periods, saying he’s ‘too smart’ to make jokes like that. But come on, you’d never get him saying that about a male interviewer, would you?
Perhaps Donald Trump being so overtly gross about women will put an end to his popularity. But it’s worth noting that he’s up against other Republican candidates who are anti-abortion and/or think that money for women’s healthcare is as much of a joke as Donald Trump is. They just use less appalling terms to explain their dislike of women (how can you like a woman if you want to take away her rights?).
The lesson here? Beware all Republicans, because you can bet many of them feel just as Donald Trump says. And we all know the influence America still has on us all…
Like this? You might also be interested in:
In Defence Of Staying Friends With All The Tories On Facebook
Hillary Clinton Will Run For President Battle The War On Women
Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophwilkinson
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.