GOP women offer personal testimonials on Trump

Republican women told personal stories on the third night of the GOP convention about how President Trump provided them with professional opportunities or showed kindness in difficult times, as the campaign attempts to narrow a yawning gender gap with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told a deeply personal story about how Trump called her in the hospital to show encouragement after she decided to undergo a preventative mastectomy.

Kellyanne Conway, one of the president’s longest-serving senior White House aides who announced Sunday she would leave her position at the end of the month to focus on her family, praised Trump for making her his 2016 campaign manager.

Wednesday night’s lineup opened with one of the GOP’s newest stars, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who blasted elected officials from Democratic controlled cities for outbreaks of violence around racial justice protests prompted by police shootings of Black Americans.

Noem’s remarks were followed by pro-Trump testimonials from Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), who was an avid defender of the president during his impeachment.

The GOP women sought to cast Trump as an empathetic leader at a time when polls show a strong majority of women have been turned off by Trump’s style and rhetoric and are supporting Biden.

Trump has leveled ugly insults against women throughout his tenure as president. His 2016 campaign was roiled by the revelation of a tape of Trump boasting to an “Access Hollywood” host about grabbing women by their genitals in 2005.

“I have seen him offer heartfelt outreach to grieving parents who lost their children to crime in the streets and I’ve watched him fight for Americans who lost their jobs,” said McEnany, who was a Trump campaign spokeswoman before being tapped as press secretary in April.

Conway, who served as Trump’s third 2016 campaign manager, discussed how Trump has sought to elevate women to powerful positions in his campaign and in the White House.

“For decades, he has elevated women to senior positions in business and in government. He confides in and consults us, respects our opinions, and insists that we are on equal footing with the men,” Conway said. “President Trump helped me shatter a barrier in the world of politics by empowering me to manage his campaign to its successful conclusion.”

She described Trump as a champion for everyday American “heroes” — including nurses, teachers and single moms — and said she has seen him comfort individuals who have endured hardship firsthand.

The speeches echoed Tuesday night’s keynote address from first lady Melania Trump, who sought to cast her husband as a champion for American families and someone who empowers and supports women.

The first lady, like the speakers on Wednesday evening, sought to soften the president’s image, describing him as an “an authentic person who loves this country and its people and wants to make it better.”

“Donald wants to keep your family safe. He wants to help your family succeed. He wants nothing more than for this country to prosper and he doesn’t waste time playing politics,” the first lady said in a speech from the White House Rose Garden.

With Americans on Wednesday commemorating Women’s Equality Day, which celebrates the adoption of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, Lara Trump narrated a historical tribute to women who fought to win the right to vote. She noted President Trump’s decision last week to offer a posthumous pardon to women’s rights advocate Susan B. Anthony.

Lara Trump, who is married to the president’s son Eric Trump, also delivered a live address, talking about how the president has filled his administration and his company, the Trump Organization, with women in senior positions.

She said that under President Trump’s leadership, unemployment for women fell to the lowest level since World War II and that female small business ownership is at an all-time high.

“Walking the halls of the Trump Organization, I saw the same family environment,” Lara Trump said. “I also saw, firsthand, the countless women executives who thrived there, year after year. Gender didn’t matter, what mattered was someone’s ability to get the job done.”

“He didn’t do these things to gain a vote or to check a box — he did them because they are the right things to do,” she added.

It’s unclear whether the testimonials will help the president overcome his deficit with female voters. Trump has tried to court suburban women recently, by calling them “housewives” and highlighting his decision to revoke an Obama-era rule meant to stop housing discrimination.

Democrats believe Trump’s victory in 2016 came in large part because suburban women swung toward him over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. But polls show Trump is struggling mightily among suburban women and independents in 2020.

An NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll from July found Biden leading Trump 56 percent to 39 percent among suburban women.

An ABC News-Washington Post poll from earlier this month found that 57 percent of suburban women have a favorable view of Biden, while 55 percent disapprove of the job Trump is doing.

Stefanik on Wednesday highlighted the number of GOP women running for office this year, saying the record number is thanks to Trump.

“Americans from all walks of life are unified in support of our president,” she said. “It’s why more Republican women than ever are running for office this year. We understand that this election is a choice between the far-left democratic socialist agenda versus protecting and preserving the American dream.”