How Trump’s ‘grab ‘em by the p***y’ comments horrified a new generation of voters
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Donald Trump’s misogynist comments didn’t stop him becoming president the first time around, but now a new generation of voters are discovering what he said about ‘grabbing’ women.
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In brief…
- Donald Trump’s “grab ‘em by the pussy” comments emerged a month before he was first voted to become US president.
- A new generation of voters is discovering what he said thanks to social media, mainly TikTok.
- The News Agents say these young voters are “appalled” at the Republican’s comments, made before they were old enough to be politically aware.
What’s the story?
"I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. ... Grab 'em by the pussy. You can do anything."
This infamous comment was made by Donald Trump in 2005, and became public just weeks before he was voted into The White House in 2016.
Now, in 2024, some young voters are discovering these comments for the first time, thanks to social media apps such as TikTok.
Clips of young people, mainly women, reacting to the comments have gone viral on TikTok in recent weeks, having been viewed hundreds of thousands of times – and shared by celebrities such as Billie Eilish, who has been outspoken in her support for Kamala Harris.
"If you're a first time voter, you're an 18 year old young woman now, you were 10 in 2016," says Lewis Goodall.
"They grew up with Trump. Trump was the president. He was the normal thing to them."
"They haven't heard this stuff. They're appalled by it, and it's getting shared millions of times."
Their impact has been somewhat diminished to some people after nearly a decade of offensive, inappropriate and bewildering statements from the Republican candidate.
Lewis adds it's "easy to forget" some of the terrible things Trump has said and done during his time in the spotlight.
His recent comments, saying he would "protect women, whether they like it or not" were scrutinised intensely, due to his previous comments about women's bodies – and his pride in having helped overturn Roe Vs. Wade.
Research has shown that most young people use TikTok, Instagram and YouTube as their main sources of news.
Gen Z voters are discovering Trump's 'grab them by the p***y' video for the first time
What has been happening with Trump's quotes in 2024?
The former president's offensive comments were first made in 2005, while filming an episode of entertainment TV show, Access Hollywood.
"Not even sure how you can look your daughter in the eye and say you're voting for Trump hearing the way he speaks about women," wrote Kate Sullivan in a TikTok clip that has been liked more than half a million times.
"This is who fathers with daughters are voting for," wrote another.
Emily Maitlis says these young women were only just coming of age when the #MeToo movement was at its height, shortly before Trump became president.
"It all kind of kicked off in 2014 when a lot of those young women were adolescents coming of age, and just sort of understanding it," she says.
"Ten years on, they're voting now. So this is the, you know, for some of them, it's the first or second time where they're going; 'What the actual f**k?'"
'The laws of political gravity do not apply to Donald Trump'
What does this mean for Trump's 2024 chances?
At this point, the answer to that question is not very much.
During the 2024 campaign, Donald Trump has questioned Kamala Harris's ethnicity, accused Democrats of targeting Republican states with hurricanes, claimed migrants are eating pets, and stood swaying in silence at his own rallies instead of speaking to people who've turned up to support him.
And polling still puts both candidates at 50% each with voters.
“The laws of political gravity do not apply to Donald Trump in the way that they do to every other political candidate,” says Jon Sopel.
“The American public have known Donald Trump for 20-30 years. The huckster, the Playboy, the property magnate, loose morals, fast women.
Harris has focused on the women's vote – pledging to work to reinstate Roe Vs. Wade, appearing on podcasts such as Call Her Daddy and other places with large female audiences.
"She's got this line, which she keeps talking about, which is: 'He's got an enemies list, I've got a to do list'," says Lewis.
"Then alongside that, focusing on the women's vote and the right to abortion, which, of course, Trump is playing into by saying absurd things, like 'I'm going to protect the women, whether they like it or not.'
"He does look increasingly exhausted. I think you can see with Harris the age difference between them and the energy that she has."
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