GOP front-runner Donald Trump has once again found himself in the awkward position of having to defend his record with women.
The moment occurred Monday at the No Labels Problem Solver Convention in New Hampshire as Trump took questions from the crowd.
“Maybe you can prove me wrong, but I don’t think you’re a friend to women,” one woman said to Trump. Trump responded initially by joking, “I knew I shouldn’t have picked her.”
He then gave her a more thought-out answer, saying, “Let me give you that answer right now. I respect women incredibly. I have had women working for me in positions that they have never worked in terms of construction, in terms of so many different jobs. I had a woman who was in charge of the building of Trump Tower many years ago … I have given women more opportunity than, I would say, virtually anybody in the construction industry.”
Trump added that his wife and daughter often encourage him to talk about women’s health because he’s supposedly very strong on the issue. “I’m going to take care of women, and I have great respect for women and I do cherish women,” Trump said.
This is not the first time that the former reality TV star has been challenged for his supposedly unfriendly treatment of women.
In October, during the first televised GOP debate, Fox News’ Megyn Kelly asked Trump similar questions about remarks he has made in the past about various women.
“You’ve called women you don’t like ‘fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals,'” she began. “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?”
Trump responded during the debate by explaining he has no time to be “politically correct.”
After the debate, Trump complained that Kelly was “unfair” to him.
Later, in a CNN interview, he seemingly suggested that Kelly was menstruating when she asked him whether he respects women, sparking what has now been a months-long on-again, off-again war of words with the cable news giant.
“She gets out and she starts asking me all sorts of ridiculous questions,” Trump said. “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her … wherever.”
Trump has denied that he implied any such thing.
(h/t Mediaite)
