Trump knocks idea of a ‘female socialist president’

President Trump knocked the idea of the U.S. having a “female socialist president” during a rally in Florida on Friday night in an apparent swipe at Sen. Kamala Harris (Calif.), the Democratic vice presidential nominee. 

“We’re not going to be a socialist nation. We’re not going to have a socialist president, especially a female socialist president,” Trump said. “We’re not going to have it. We’re not going to put up with it.”

President Trump slams Sen. Kamala Harris: “We’re not going to have a socialist President, especially a female socialist President.” pic.twitter.com/KQiYbYmJ9t

— The Hill (@thehill) October 23, 2020

Trump’s comments at the Pensacola rally come as the GOP pushes an anti-socialism message in Florida, hoping it will be well received by Hispanic immigrants in the state who fled socialist dictatorships.

The president has repeatedly gone after Harris in an attempt to link Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to the left flank of his party, noting stances the California senator took during her own White House run.

The latest broadside will likely rev up the president’s base, which has railed against socialism and is looking to boost support among Hispanics in Florida who tend to lean more conservative than Latino voters across the nation. But it also risks turning off some female voters at a time when his campaign and down-ballot GOP candidates are seeking support among women, particularly in the suburbs.

Trump has claimed to have done “more for women than just about any president in history,” though surveys show him trailing Biden by double digits nationally and in key swing states among the demographic.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday showed Biden with a 60 percent to 34 percent advantage nationally over Trump among women. And a Washington Post-ABC poll released in August showed Biden winning the suburbs by 8 points and suburban women in particular by 13 points.

No Republican has won the White House without winning the suburban vote by at least 4 percentage points since 2004. Trump narrowly won the suburbs by 4 points in 2016 over Hillary Clinton. 

The president has sought to reverse his slide among suburban women by touting a “law and order” message in light of the national protests over systemic racism and police brutality and his repeal of an Obama-era regulation meant to expand low-income housing in suburbs. 

“Suburban women, they should like me more than anybody here tonight because I ended the regulation that destroyed your neighborhood. I ended the regulation that brought crime to the suburbs, and you’re going to live the American dream,” he said at a Pennsylvania rally earlier this month. “So can I ask you to do me a favor? Suburban women, will you please like me? I saved your damn neighborhood, OK?”