Watch CBS News

Keller @ Large: Donald Trump On His Past Treatment Of Women

BOSTON (CBS) -- "Nobody respects women more than Donald Trump," says...Donald Trump, of course.

The inevitable conclusion: that Trump was just kidding when he said "women, you have to treat them like (bleep)," or the dozens of other instances in which he has commodified, insulted and demeaned women over the years.

Little wonder that Trump's treatment of women has been a campaign lightning rod. And this New York Times story documenting a history of crude or demeaning remarks could add to a persistent problem facing the Trump campaign: sky-high disapproval ratings among women.

Or, maybe, not.

"My guess is it's not gonna move the electorate, that's not what they're looking at," says Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, with good reason.

For starters, there's the presence of Bill Clinton campaigning for his wife, a reminder that he was elected and re-elected despite similar stories of sexist behavior.

But if the Trump campaign is unconcerned, they're not acting like it, pushing back hard against the Times reporting, with Trump personally touting, in tweets and a phone call to CNN, a denunciation of the story by one of the women quoted in it.

Stay tuned. You're going to be hearing much more about misogyny in this campaign, whether or not the voters signal it really matters to them.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.