If you watched the third and final presidential debate this past Wednesday, then you undoubtedly heard Donald Trump's "nasty woman" remark. Even if you didn't watch the debate, social media sites were soon flooded with an influx of people ready to turn Trump's hateful comment into an ironically empowering meme.

However, in the midst of all the social media hilarity, some tend to gloss over a fairly important issue: why was this comment necessary in the first place?

Short answer: it wasn't.

He didn't follow up this comment with anything to discredit Hillary's remark that prompted this response. He didn't reply to her comment with his trademark "wrong." He didn't even try to deny that what she was saying may have some truth to it. All he did was call her "nasty."

It wasn't his time to talk. There was no possible way this response would have helped him or his campaign. (Unsurprisingly, the only one it did help was Janet Jackson.) He must have known somewhere deep down that this comment served no purpose but to show his true personality, and yet, he said it anyway.

Debates are typically events at which we can see the candidates' opposing viewpoints, in order to identify which one aligns more closely with our personal beliefs. Election season is always accompanied by its fair share of mudslinging, but it is clear that this one is especially rife with it. This raises another question, though: does this comment fall under the seemingly forgivable definition of "mudslinging?"

Personally, I would say no. Mudslinging usually consists of low-blow tactics and emotionally charged language used to discredit an opponent. Trump's comment goes beyond that. By calling Hillary Clinton a "nasty woman," he resorted to petty name-calling.

The difference between this and regular mudslinging lies in the content. Think of it this way: remarks made about someone's credibility in order to score political points tend to fall under the umbrella of mudslinging. These can be (and often are) personal.

However, Donald Trump did not remark here on Clinton's credibility. Rather, he chose to throw all pretensions of politics out the window. This was a direct attack on Hillary Clinton as a person, or more specifically, as a woman.

To say that Donald Trump has had trouble appealing to women in the past would be a massive understatement. He has repeatedly found himself in hot water for comments he's made to or about women, and this is just another classic example.

Now, if you watched either this last debate or the one before it, you will have heard Donald say, "No one has more respect for women than I do." If you listen really closely, perhaps you can make out the distinct sounds of laughter from the audience. No one's buying it.