Female voters’ support for former President Donald Trump, who is running for the U.S. presidency in November, is dwindling.
According to Newsweek, a U.S. weekly news magazine, on the 28th (local time), recent polls show that Trump’s approval rating among women was lower than during the 2020 presidential election. According to Pew Research Center analysis, Trump scored 44% of the female vote in the 2020 presidential election, an increase from 39% in the 2016 presidential election.
However, a study conducted in January this year by Quinnipiac University among registered voters showed that 58% of female respondents supported President Biden, while 36% supported former President Trump. This reflects a drop in Trump’s approval rating among women, 41%, in a December survey by the same institution. This month’s poll by The New York Times (NYT) and Siena College also showed a 16-point gap, with 53% of female respondents supporting President Biden and 37% supporting former President Trump. Newsweek predicts that the decline in Trump’s approval rating among women could lead to his defeat in the presidential election, especially in a race that has become so close.
Political experts also predict that controversies surrounding Trump, such as the abortion rights debate and sex scandal, will influence voter sentiment on presidential election day. Heath-Brown, an associate professor at the City University of New York, told Newsweek, “This political gender gap will widen,” citing the abortion rights debate as evidence. Trump has been criticized in the abortion rights debate as he declared, “I’m the one who proudly ended it” with regards to the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning the Roe v. Wade ruling, where abortion rights are recognized at the federal level.
Mark Shanahan, an associate professor at the University of Reading in the UK, said, “Abortion rights are the most important issue in this presidential election campaign, and the debate will continue until the November presidential election day. Trump’s aggressive, macho and somewhat grumbling style alienates female voters.” Shanahan also pointed to the sex scandal trial against Trump as a cause for his declining support among women.
In January, Trump was ordered by a federal court in Manhattan, New York, to pay $83.3 million (approximately $110 billion) in damages for defamation to E. Jean Carroll, a fashion columnist who accused him of sexual assault 28 years ago. This week, the trial regarding allegations that Trump paid hush money to silence a former adult film star about their past sexual encounter and manipulated company books related to the payment began in earnest. The allegations surfaced just before Trump’s victory in the 2016 presidential election.
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