According to a report from New York Times, Donald Trump's obsessive attacks on the Democratic female leadership of Michigan have become a motivating factor for women in the rust-belt state to turn on the president and will likely hand the state to presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in November.
Noting that the president won Michigan in 2016 by a slim 10,704 votes -- his smallest margin of victory in the country -- the Times explains that the president's attacks on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, have resonated with voters in the state -- and not in a good way.
According to the Times, the president is currently trailing in Michigan polls to Biden, and Democrats in the state believe the president's attacks on the three women -- who have strongly pushed back against the president's sniping -- is hurting his chances of getting back in the game in the state.
"They see the president’s frequent barbs — he has called Ms. Nessel 'the Wacky Do Nothing Attorney General' and Ms. Benson a 'rogue Secretary of State' — as helping fuel the anti-Trump bandwagon in the state, which before 2016 had not voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 1988," the Times reports.
According to Lori Goldman, a realtor who started the group Fems for Dems, “We’re enraged. We’re exhausted. I’m a woman and I feel the sting of how these women leaders are being treated and called names.”
The report notes that Goldman's group has grown to 8,000 members who helped to elect the three Democratic lawmakers, as well as flip multiple seats held by Republicans, and now their focus is on 2020.
“We are a bunch of dumpy, middle-aged housewives,” explained Goldman. “That’s the one good thing about getting older, you don’t need to have people like you anymore. When you get pissed off, you’re ready to stand up and say something.”
According to Michigan pollster Richard Czuba, Trump's attacks on the three are motivating other women in the state.
“Women are sharply viewing it as anti-female,” he explained. “I can see him going after Whitmer if he’s worried about her being on the ticket. But he has systemically attacked every prominent female politician in Michigan."
Noting, "According to polls, Michiganders are siding with the women," the Times adds, "Now, Ms. Whitmer and Ms. Nessel are turning at least some of their attention to defeating Mr. Trump in November. Because of her role as the state’s chief elections officer, Ms. Benson won’t endorse or work for a candidate in the presidential race."
The report goes on to note, that Whitmer, in a recent call to supporters stated, "We’re all that woman from Michigan, and by the end of this, Donald Trump is going to know not to mess with these women from Michigan.”
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