I’m sure we’ll hear a lot more about Donald TrumpDonald John TrumpSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote Warren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases Esper orders ‘After Action Review’ of National Guard’s role in protests MORE’s perversions in the third (and mercifully, last) debate.
Sure, there was a lot of discussion of the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape in the last round. But since then, several women have publicly complained of sexual assault at the hands of the Republican nominee.
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Then there are the accounts of teenage beauty pageant contestants who told reporters that he had a nasty habit of walking into dressing rooms when they were naked.
Trump has been under siege for three weeks because of his verbal and physical abuse of women since just before the first debate. At that time, he went medieval on former Miss Universe Alicia Machado.
He amped up his attack on her after debate No. 1 and then all hell broke loose two days before debate No. 2 with the “Access Hollywood” video.
Unfortunately for the beleaguered nominee, the upcoming debate will be more of the same.
How will Trump deal with these new accusations about his character in round three? He will answer the questions about his character by lashing out at Democratic nominee Hillary ClintonHillary Diane Rodham ClintonWhite House accuses Biden of pushing ‘conspiracy theories’ with Trump election claim Biden courts younger voters — who have been a weakness Trayvon Martin’s mother Sybrina Fulton qualifies to run for county commissioner in Florida MORE’s integrity and ineffectively striking out at his accusers.
There are some things that even the most skilled politicians can’t spin and Trump’s abuse of women is one of them.
Trump’s defense doesn’t hold enough water to quench the thirst of a baby bird.
His rebuttal in the second debate was to dismiss his comments as “locker-room talk.” Immature teenage boys may talk like that in high school locker-rooms but men in locker rooms, unlike Trump, have grown up and have a lot more respect towards women.
Trump said his abusive comments were just words, ignoring the fact that he bragged about his abusive behavior.
The GOP’s next step was to say that President Bill ClintonWilliam (Bill) Jefferson ClintonWill the ‘law and order’ president pardon Roger Stone? Five ways America would take a hard left under Joe Biden The sad spectacle of Trump’s enablers MORE had done worse things, so it was OK for The Donald to abuse women because former President Clinton did it.
What did that have to do with Hillary Clinton anyway? Bill is retired and Hillary is the one who’s running for president.
Thankfully, voters aren’t buying Trump’s excuses.
Two in three Americans (68 percent) in a new national survey by ABC News and The Washington Post believe that the GOP nominee has made unwanted sexual advances toward women. A clear majority (55 perent) believe that Trump’s predatory behavior is a legitimate campaign issue. Finally, two out of every three (67 percent) voters don’t think Bill Clinton’s behavior is a legitimate campaign issue.
There’s a silver lining behind even the darkest of clouds. Brave women have gone public and brought attention to a problem that many deal with daily. The outrage over Trump’s remarks have encouraged women to go public about the attacks they endured at Trump’s hand. Because of them, Americans are learning that groping is not just boys being boys; it’s sexual assault.
The discussion is a learning experience for the media, too. At first journalists described Trump’s comments to “Access Hollywood” host Billy Bush as just lewd talk — but it was a lot more than talk. The media were late to report that Trump admitted he had committed sexual assault.
It was only after women called it for what it was that the media caught on.
Years ago, my daughter asked me why anyone would vote for a particular candidate who had been accused of molesting young women. I told her that not many people would. I was right; that candidate lost.
Donald Trump will lose, too.
Bannon is CEO of Bannon Communications Research, which works with progressive groups, labor unions and Democratic candidates. He contributes regularly to two nationally syndicated progressive talk radio shows, “The Leslie Marshall Show” and “The Jeff Santos Show.” Bannon is also political analyst for CLTV, the cable news station of the Chicago Tribune and WGN-TV and a senior adviser to and contributing editor for MyTiller.com, the social media network for politics.
The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the views of The Hill.