Last Friday, a 2005 clip of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump surfaced in which he made lewd comments about women and claimed responsibility for acts of sexual assault. With the discussion across social media and news outlets resulting from the scandal, it was odd that the issue was seemingly dropped within the first ten minutes of Sunday’s second presidential debate. Odd, but also unsettling.
When Donald Trump was presented with a question regarding the videotape, he essentially shrugged off his comments as “locker room talk” and then claimed that he never participated in such acts. The main issue with his handling of the tape that it permits and perpetuates rape culture. Trump claimed it was a misunderstanding and refused to take responsibility for his actions. The idea that assailants are not guilty for their attacks is abundantly apparent in sexual assault cases across the country, most recently in the Brock Turner case. Further, by saying that these comments just happen are the reason why they happen; young men in particular continuously objectify women and this mindset leads to the justification of sexual assault.
The other issue with how Trump handled this scandal is the swiftness with which he changed the conversation: without even missing a beat, Trump stated that “we have a world where ISIS is chopping off heads… can you imagine the people that are frankly doing so well against us with ISIS, and they look at our country and see what’s going on on. Yes, I’m very embarrassed by it, and I hate it, but it’s locker room talk and one of those things.” This continues Trumps refusal to take responsibility for what he had done and the comments he made, by distracting viewers from the issue at hand. Following the debate on Sunday night, CNN political commentator Van Jones told the rest of the panel of consultants, as well as those watching, not to mix these issues. While the topic of how to handle ISIS and other international conflicts is a very prominent point of discussion in this election, it was not the matter at hand.
Moreover, former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski functioned as an extension of his old boss in the panel discussion, continuously focusing on ISIS whenever the tape was mentioned. He claimed that Trump is determined to keep Americans safe by combatting international aggressors, which is an important insight into the reasoning behind Trump’s words; he may be so focused on hot button issues that he does not care about the numbers of students across the country do not feel safe on their own campus. While there are obviously international conflicts and internal political divides, it is important that a presidential candidate focuses on the domestic protection of the American people. Deflecting the focus from Trump’s illegal and aggressive behavior onto something “more serious” invalidates the significance of sexual assault in the country and in the debate.
As a young woman on a college campus, it is extremely unsettling that both a presidential candidate and various political commentators have turned the conversation away from sexual violence because it isn’t the issue to be discussed. In light of the scandal, Trump released a video and Facebook post apologizing for the comments in the video. But with his campaign manager refusing to label his actions sexual assault and his refusing to basically discuss it all, it is hard to imagine that this Trump truly feels remorse for what he has said and done.
