Politics

Hillary Clinton's brutal new ad uses Trump's "pussy" comments against him

Nov 1, 2016, 3:30 PM UTC

Donald Trump’s ugly comments about women — calling them “dogs,” “fat pigs,” and so on — have been much discussed during the 2016 presidential campaign. He’s said enough sexist things that some of Hillary Clinton’s attack ads have simply replayed his own words.

But for the first time, a new Clinton ad is highlighting Trump’s most explosive comments about women, the infamous “grab ’em by the pussy” remarks caught on a hot mic.

And the ad makes clear that it’s not just Trump’s words that are the problem. It’s the beliefs about women that those words reflect — and it’s the deeds he’s allegedly done, as more than a dozen women have come forward to accuse him of sexual assault.

The ad is a pretty good one-minute summary of Trump’s many problems with women.

It shows Trump’s regressive attitudes toward women by quoting a 1994 interview, where Trump says he thinks “putting a wife to work is a very dangerous thing” and that sometimes when he comes home and dinner’s not ready, “I go through the roof.”

“He really said this,” ad text reads before the “pussy” remarks play. “And did this,” it continues, before showing news clips of Trump’s accusers coming forward.

The ad also highlights allegations that Trump walked into beauty pageant dressing rooms when women were changing — including teenagers as young as 15. And it plays Trump himself boasting on the Howard Stern Show about walking in on women.

It might seem surprising that such a hard-hitting attack ad comes directly from the Clinton campaign instead of a Super PAC. But Clinton and her surrogates, like Michelle Obama, haven’t been shying away from the sexual assault allegations against Trump on the campaign trail.

And hearing Clinton saying “I’m Hillary Clinton and I approve this message” at the end is a startling reminder of one of her key campaign messages: This isn’t just a choice between a Democrat and a Republican. It’s a choice between a virulent misogynist and the first woman president of the United States.