GOP fears Trump’s problems with suburban women will only get worse

Published

2 years ago

May 15, 2023

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Former President Trump increasingly looks like the favorite to win the GOP’s presidential nomination, but that strength masks what many Republicans see as a huge weakness against President Biden: Trump’s problems with suburban women.

All of Trump’s vulnerabilities with the key demographic were on high display during a rowdy town hall last week with CNN, where at one point the former president called moderator Kaitlan Collins a “nasty person.”

Trump also mocked a woman who won a civil lawsuit against him for sexual battery and defamation, and he dodged questions on abortion — a top issue that has increasingly been a strength for Democrats since the Supreme Court, which includes three justices who Trump nominated, overturned Roe v. Wade.

E. Jean Carroll filed a lawsuit last year accusing the former president of raping her in 1996 in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room, though the jury did not find Trump liable of rape in the trial. Trump has denied Carroll’s accusations and appealed the verdict on Thursday.

At Wednesday’s town hall, he recounted his version of the 1996 encounter, drawing laughs from the audience, which appeared to be largely sympathetic to him.

“What kind of a woman meets somebody and brings them up and within minutes you’re playing hanky panky in a dressing room,” Trump said.

When asked if he believes the jury’s verdict would deter women from voting for him, Trump said: “No, I don’t think so.”

And his critics say it likely will not in a Republican primary.

“It’s incredibly misogynistic and damaging, but it’s also old news,” said Jennifer Horn, former chairwoman of the New Hampshire Republican State Committee and co-founder of the anti-Trump group the Lincoln Project. “This is who Trump has always been, and the Republican Party has embraced it.”

“I think that he probably believes he can win the general election with the same behavior we saw the other night,” Horn said.

The CNN town hall came just days after a Washington Post-ABC News poll showed Trump leading Biden in a general election, sparking worry among Democrats. According to the survey, Trump leads Biden by 7 points in a hypothetical matchup.

“If you ask any woman their number one priority, it is to ensure their children are safe, healthy, and prosperous. Joe Biden’s policies have made Americans less safe, addicted to Chinese fentanyl, and struggling to afford basic necessities, like groceries and gas,” said Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for MAGA Inc., who is based in New Hampshire. “That is why women, and the majority of Americans, will overwhelmingly reject Joe Biden in 2024 and vote for President Trump to make America great again.”

During a post-town hall focus group on CNN, one woman interviewed said she did not “really care” about Trump’s comments about Carroll during the town hall.

“I don’t know enough about the case. Women can be victims of abuse. Women can also make up stories,” the woman said.

Two other women interviewed said the comments made them feel uncomfortable and noted they also had not been closely following the case.

And it would not be the first time Trump’s disparaging comments about women did not interfere with his general election chances.

Roughly one month before the 2016 general election, audio from 2005 was leaked of Trump openly bragging about groping women while he was en route to film an episode of Access Hollywood. While the leaked tape earned him negative coverage and condemnation from Democrats and some Republicans at the time, Trump went on to defeat Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton the following month.

Trump’s critics argue 2024 will present a different challenge to the former president, given he faces legal consequences in the E. Jean Carroll case.

“Her story was so powerful,” said Debbie Walsh, director for the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. “But I think for sort-of-moderate Republican women who watch this, is this all becoming a bridge too far? And it was a bridge too far for them before, so what about him is different?”

Suburban women voters have also largely turned their backs on Republicans since the former president was elected in 2016. According to CBS News exit polling from 2018, 53 percent of suburban women voters said they voted for Democrats in 2018, up from 47 percent in 2014 and 51 percent in 2016. In 2020, Biden won 54 percent of suburban voters in general, according to the Pew Research Center. And in last year’s midterm elections, suburban voters, including women in this group, helped deliver major victories to Democrats in key states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Georgia, with many of Trump’s endorsed candidates facing defeat.

“Many of those women the first time around they voted for him because he was a Republican, and we know that party is the best predictor of a vote,” Walsh said. “But the lived experience of Donald Trump turned them away from the Republican Party.”

“In the same way that he kept the Republican Party from winning big in the midterm elections this year, then he will make it difficult for the Republican Party in a general election,” she said.

On top of that, many have pointed to how the Supreme Court’s decision last year to overturn Roe v. Wade — the 1973 landmark ruling that federally legalized abortion — swayed women voters in the midterms. According to the Brookings Institution, 47 percent of female voters felt angry about the decision, and 83 percent of those women voted for a Democratic candidate.

Biden and Democrats are telegraphing that they plan on elevating abortion access as a key issue in 2024, while Republicans are working to improve their messaging on the issue.

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel has called for Republicans to put Democrats “on the defense” by labeling them as extreme on abortion, while GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley has called for a “national consensus” on the issue. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who has trailed Trump in the polls, signed into law a six-week ban on most abortions in Florida last month. DeSantis’s critics have called the stance extreme, arguing it will drive away moderate and swing voters.

Trump, on the other hand, dodged a question from a female voter Wednesday evening about how he would plan to appeal to women voters in the state concerned about the Supreme Court’s decision. The former president called the decision “a great victory,” but he did not specify whether he would support a federal ban on the procedure if elected.

“Getting rid of Roe v. Wade was an incredible thing for pro-life because it gave pro-life something to negotiate with,” Trump said. “Deals are being made. Deals are going to be made.”

Julie Miles, the New Hampshire voter who posed the question to Trump, later told ABC News the former president “didn’t actually answer” her question. Satellite photos show impact of burst of water sent to Lake Mead Biden, McCarthy to meet again as debt limit deal remains at stalemate

“One of the problems with Independent women obviously is the abortion and his issue at the town hall wasn’t the position he took with abortion,” Horn said. “He took no position, but he just spoke about it in a reckless and dismissive manner, as if it was just not a big deal,” she said, likening his answer to “a business deal.”

It’s still unclear and too far out to know what role abortion access will play in 2024. It’s also unclear what role the economy will play in voters’ decision-making because it’s normally a top-of-mind issue. Republicans have continued to hit Biden on this as inflation continues and interest rates rise. The Washington-Post ABC News poll also shows Trump dominating Biden on handling the economy, with 54 percent of Americans saying Trump did a better job of handling the economy than Biden has done in his term so far. Only 36 percent said they preferred Biden’s handling.

“I know Biden’s poll numbers are not great, but at the end of the day, when you’re really looking at whatever we watch in this campaign, if it is Donald Trump, it may not be a vote for Joe Biden, but a vote just to please make it stop with Donald Trump,” Walsh said.

Politics

Man arrested over arson attacks after fire at Sir Keir Starmer’s house

Published

2 hours ago

May 13, 2025

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Man arrested over arson attacks after fire at Sir Keir Starmer's house

A 21-year-old man has been arrested over a series of arson attacks, police have said, after a fire at a house owned by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

The suspect was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life, according to the Metropolitan Police.

He remains in custody.

Emergency services were called to fires at the doors of two homes in north London within 24 hours of each other – one just after 1.35am on Monday in Kentish Town and the other on Sunday in Islington. Both properties are linked to Sir Keir.

Detectives were also checking a vehicle fire last Thursday on the same street as the Kentish Town property to see whether it is connected.

Part of the area was cordoned off as police and London Fire Brigade (LFB) investigators examined the scene.

Neighbours described hearing a loud bang and said police officers were looking for a projectile.

The prime minister is understood to still own the home, which was damaged by fire on Monday, but nobody was hurt. Pictures showed scorching at the entrance to the property.

Sir Keir used to live there before he and his family moved into 10 Downing Street after Labour won last year’s general election. It is believed the property is being rented out.

In the early hours of Sunday, firefighters dealt with a small fire at the front door of a house converted into flats in nearby Islington, which is also linked to the prime minister.

In a statement, police said: “As a precaution and due to the property having previous connections with a high-profile public figure, officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command are leading the investigation into this fire.

“Enquiries are ongoing to establish what caused it. All three fires are being treated as suspicious at this time, and enquiries remain ongoing.”

The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “I can only say that the prime minister thanks the emergency services for their work and it is subject to a live investigation. So I can’t comment any further.”

Kemi Badenoch has condemned the suspected arson attacks.

Writing on X, the Conservative leader said: “This is a shocking incident. My thoughts are with the prime minister and his family. No one should face these sorts of threats, let alone people in public service.

“It’s an attack on our democracy and must never be tolerated.”

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick told Sky News on Tuesday: “It’s important that the prime minister and anyone in public life has their family, their homes, protected.

“It is absolutely wrong, disgraceful, for any individual to take the kind of action that we saw against the prime minister’s home.”

UK

Man arrested over arson attacks after fire at Sir Keir Starmer’s house

Published

2 hours ago

May 13, 2025

admin

A 21-year-old man has been arrested over a series of arson attacks, police have said, after a fire at a house owned by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

The suspect was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life, according to the Metropolitan Police.

He remains in custody.

Detectives were also checking a vehicle fire last Thursday on the same street as the Kentish Town property to see whether it is connected.

Part of the area was cordoned off as police and London Fire Brigade (LFB) investigators examined the scene.

Neighbours described hearing a loud bang and said police officers were looking for a projectile.

The prime minister is understood to still own the home, which was damaged by fire on Monday, but nobody was hurt. Pictures showed scorching at the entrance to the property.

Sir Keir used to live there before he and his family moved into 10 Downing Street after Labour won last year’s general election. It is believed the property is being rented out.

In the early hours of Sunday, firefighters dealt with a small fire at the front door of a house converted into flats in nearby Islington, which is also linked to the prime minister.

“Enquiries are ongoing to establish what caused it. All three fires are being treated as suspicious at this time, and enquiries remain ongoing.”

Kemi Badenoch has condemned the suspected arson attacks.

“It’s an attack on our democracy and must never be tolerated.”

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick told Sky News on Tuesday: “It’s important that the prime minister and anyone in public life has their family, their homes, protected.

“It is absolutely wrong, disgraceful, for any individual to take the kind of action that we saw against the prime minister’s home.”

UK

M&S says customers’ personal data taken by hackers

Published

2 hours ago

May 13, 2025

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M&S says customers' personal data taken by hackers

Marks & Spencer has revealed customers’ personal data has been taken by hackers after it was hit by a damaging cyber attack.

The retail giant’s chief executive Stuart Machin said the data had been accessed due to the “sophisticated nature of the incident” but stressed that this does not include “usable payment or card details, which we do not hold on our systems”.

There is also no evidence that account passwords have been shared, according to the statement.

M&S did not say how many customers had been affected but in a social media post, Mr Machin said there is “no need for customers to take any action”.

“To give customers extra peace of mind, they will be prompted to reset their password the next time they visit or log on to their M&S account and we have shared information on how to stay safe online,” he said.

M&S had 9.4 million active online customers in the year to 30 March, according to its last full-year results.

A cybersecurity expert told Sky News, however, that the lack of sensitive data being shared “does not mean that customers are not at risk”.

“With simple data such as names, email addresses, and potentially other personal details like addresses or phone numbers, which have been reported as accessed, attackers can use this information to create highly targeted and convincing phishing emails or text messages,” said Tim Grieveson, CSO at ThingsRecon.

“These emails from attackers can appear very legitimate because they use real personal information.”

He added that stolen personal data can be used “as pieces of a puzzle by fraudsters”.

“For example, if an attacker has your name and address, they might combine it with other publicly available information to attempt to open accounts or conduct other fraudulent activities.”

M&S has been struggling for weeks after hackers, reportedly from the Scattered Spider group, attacked their networks.

The British retailer was forced to halt recruitment amid the ongoing attack that became apparent on Easter Monday.

Shelves around the country have been bare and customers are unable to shop online.

Agency staff at some distribution centres were also told to stay at home because of the attack.

Last week, an M&S insider told Sky News it could be “months” before the retailer fully recovers from an ongoing, severe cyber attack – and that the company had no plan for such an incident.

An employee at M&S’s head office, who spoke to Sky News on condition of anonymity, said that last week had been “just pure chaos”.

“We didn’t have any business continuity plan [for this], we didn’t have a cyber attack plan,” the source said.

“In general, it’s lots of stress. People have not been sleeping, people have spent their weekends working, people sleeping in the office – just reactive response.”

The Co-op also faced a similar major incident and was forced to apologise after hackers managed to access the data of a “significant number” of past and current members.

In the same week, luxury department store Harrods also suffered an attempted hack and temporarily restricted internet access across its sites as a precautionary measure.

The National Crime Agency has said it is investigating the attacks individually but is “mindful they may be linked”.