When Donald Trump announced his candidacy last year, many political pundits dismissed it with the wave of the hand as this was not the first time he had been linked to the ambition of sitting in the White House. Since 1988, he has deftly used his public relations stunts to put his name forward and then a loud silence follows afterwards as he never took up the gauntlet.
This time around, he was in for good with analysts opining that he was just there to make up the numbers as he stood no chance in hell against the establishment politicians. His being the front runner was still not convincing enough as it was only a matter of time for the steam to cool off.
His gaffes which were increasing by the day gave some hope to the pundits that he won’t go far. How wrong were they as he eventually clinched the ticket and greatly upset the apple cart!
There was palpable anger from within the ranks of the GOP as this loud and brash New Yorker had beaten them at their own game. Fear suddenly began creeping in as his harsh anti-immigration stance and the threat of the building of a wall was a clear target against Mexico as they constituted the majority of the over eleven million illegal immigrants. Nigerians, the largest foreign minority in Uncle Sam were also not spared as he railed against their presence there and wondered why they didn’t return back home rather than taking up jobs there. African Americans, Muslims , Hispanics – everyone wasn’t spared his caustic tongue. He even made fun of terminally ill people by urging them to hang on till November 8 so that they could cast their vote for him. He was waging a war against everyone and was portraying the image of a crude isolationist.

His attack against women in a country that places a high premium on women’s rights and with his rival as a woman as well was a Locus Classicus of the theatre of the absurd. He took this to a ridiculous extreme by releasing a video released by the Washington Post where he used vulgar language about groping and kissing women with impunity. This is a far cry from what is expected of a presidential candidate as he showed utter contempt and disregard for women likening them to mere sexual objects to be used and dumped at will. He has blasted Bill Clinton repeatedly for his acts of sexual indiscretion while in office with Hillary as an accomplice. How does this make him any better?
Many fellow Republicans have disassociated themselves from him by refusing to endorse his candidacy. Congressman Jason Chaffetz told Fox that ‘I can no longer in good conscience endorse this person for President.’ Congress woman Barbara Comstock, Congressman Mike Coffman and former Governor of Utah, Jon Huntsman demanded his exit from the race. The most prominent was erstwhile President George Bush Sr who openly canvassed for Hillary Clinton. Trump seems to have a thick skin as the opposition from his party members seems to have unfazed him. He keeps trudging on like a soldier spewing more poison as the days roll by and making a caricature of a future occupant of the White House.
It was something akin to the nine wonders of the world when he made a public apology for the video that was released. In his words ‘I have said and done things I regret. Anyone who knows me knows these words don’t reflect who I am. I was wrong and I apologise. I have never said I am a perfect person, nor pretended to be someone I am not. I pledge to be a better man tomorrow.’
This is the first apology of his which is still a shocker. He has probably realized the strategic importance of women as a voting bloc and figured out that it won’t be in his best interest to alienate himself from them. Are the African-Americans, Hispanics, Muslims now less important? Don’t they also deserve an apology as well?
The three minutes video made in 2005 is going to make Trump have a herculean challenge in making inroads into the women power base which Hillary may use to her advantage as she has issued a statement condemning his lewd language. Taking to twitter, she said ‘This is horrific; we cannot allow this man to be President.’
Women emancipation has come a long way in the United States. From the struggle of Elizabeth Cady Stanton whose efforts sparked off the struggle for women equality with the historic Seneca Falls Convention held in 1848 to the current battle for complete equality of the sexes in all ramifications, deriding them in such a coarse manner is a gargantuan blunder that could give Hillary an easy leeway. In a country where a mere innuendo could lead to a sexual harassment lawsuit, the real estate mogul took things way too far. It will take a miracle to get the voters to forgive him for this. The unfolding drama would really be interesting of a possible bounce back especially among the white women voters.
The fact that he has been twice divorced has also exacerbated his popularity with the women folk. The only divorcee President was Ronald Reagan. The searchlight is now going to be beamed on whether there was any form of emotional abuse on his former wives and his suitability for the highest office in the globe if he maltreated his ex-spouses. The snoopers are going to have a field day to unearth how his marriages hit the rocks and portray him as a misogynist who cannot be trusted with power. Let’s not forget that it was this same Washington Post that brought down Richard Nixon in the infamous Watergate scandal which gave Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein their first claim to journalistic and investigative fame. Some impatient hawks may not be patient enough to wait till November 8 so they can get the credit for stopping the loquacious ‘entertainer’ from making history.
We wait with bated breath as to the outcome on November 8 to see if Hillary can swing a subtle battle of the sexes and cause a humiliation of the man who doesn’t appreciate the true meaning of the fairer sex.
Tony Ademiluyi

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