Women are fleeing the Republican Party -- and the reason may have nothing to do with policies

President Donald Trump won the 2016 election in part due to white women, who were willing to vote for him or against former Secretary Hillary Clinton. But now those women are fleeing the Republican Party, and it might be because of Trump.

News Leader columnist Patricia Hunt explained Wednesday why she thinks women are leaving Trump: he reminds them of the jerk at work, their ex-boyfriend or any other annoying dude-bro in their lives. Hunt wondered if Trump is motivating men's behavior.

"There has been a smattering of research that suggests, if not proves, that domestic violence increases after NFL football games," she wrote. "Especially if the team a man supports [is] the losing team."

The idea came after she wondered what the impact on someone would be if they watched hours and hours of Fox News every day. If they were tuned into the angry tweets, the fights at rallies and other Trumpcentric things.

"The anger of Americans seems to be at a fever pitch," Hunt wrote. "What if women are turning from Trump, some of them, because his constant ginning up of rage is affecting the mood of their husbands or other men in their lives, affecting their work life, their sense of safety and comfort in their own homes?"

The hypothesis is remarkably similar to claims about why men hated Clinton in 2016. The assumption was that she reminded them of their nagging wives.

Hunt recalled a clinical psychologist who moved from a Mediterranean country to the United States about 10 years ago, and was struck by the anger inside American men. A decade later, the anger has gone from a simmer to a rolling boil.

"I can’t count the number of stories I have heard of women who have told about coping with angry, unpredictable men. They walk on eggshells," Hunt said.

There are angry bosses, angry white, male colleagues, angry husbands, and anger is an emotion that men feel it is acceptable to express.

"They may fear looking weak if they show affection. But rage, many believe, does not diminish a man’s image. And it is a great way to control others," Hunt wrote.

"Imagine for a moment what it is like to get off work, come home, and have someone whose relationship is integral to yours spend hours and hours watching programming that is designed to gin up the anger of its viewers," she continued. "You may not even care about the content of those programs. Or you may agree with the positions taken. But if the person you have to live with becomes unpleasant and difficult, it is affecting your life, especially if the anger encouraged by the people on TV spills over to whatever it at hand: the toys on the floor that weren’t put away, the dinner he didn’t like, the housefly that is buzzing around the bowl of popcorn, the car that needs an oil change when there is no time in the day to get that done, neighbor’s yard sign for a candidate he doesn’t support. Or you. What if it is aimed at you?"

She speculated that these white women living around men who have fallen for Trump and the rage that comes with it.

"Maybe some women are scared of what is happening to their men. Maybe they are tired of living in fear," she closed.

Read the full op-ed.