We are on the precipice of becoming a country of punctuated extremes. This is not just about the rich and the poor. This is about who will stand up for the rights and fight against the wrongs of both extremes and those in the middle. The answer to that question is not a comforting one as President-Elect Donald Trump names appointees with strong histories of racist and misogynistic words and actions. With Steve Bannon, Reince Priebus, General Michael Flynn, Mike Pompeo and Senator Jeff Sessions surrounding him, Trump continues to create a solid sense of unease amidst the millions who did not support him.
But its beginnings were there throughout his campaign.
A look back at an important time in the 2016 campaign, captured by Political & Otherwise and shown below, highlights the period when Donald Trump put his last team of advisors in place. It shows the intent and direction our new President-Elect had in mind all along.
Trump's Women Problem Revisited /September 8, 2016
Photos by Gage Skidmore: CC BY-SA2.0
The next President of the United States will be elected in two months, and the first female Democratic nominee continues to be hammered by two things. Emails and her gender. At this point I believe Senator Bernie Sanders had it right in the first debate with Hillary Clinton way back in 2015 when he said, "Enough about your damn emails." Clinton has since admitted - and admitted again that she made a mistake and said it won't happen again. Matt Lauer missed that memo when he used about one third of her time at the at the Commander-in-Chief Forum asking her about those emails. Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) didn't get the memo either. The Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is calling for another Clinton email investigation. Moving right along, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus took to Twitter during the Forum criticizing Hillary for seeming angry and not smiling enough as she answered questions.
Wait a minute. The female candidate didn't smile enough while talking about national security and our veterans as well as her emails? Thank you Reince for getting to the point. This is the presidential campaign that has made misogyny a household term.
When does a heated election contest between a man and a woman cross the line and become harassment? Perhaps when the male candidate surrounds himself with new advisers who possess an outright disdain for women that has gotten each of them into serious trouble. If Trump wins the election, these men are sure to play key roles.
Trump's new guiding lights as he fights to win this election are both men who have histories of reported “issues” with women. First up we have the man just thrown out of his last job for sexual harassment, former Fox News Chairman and CEO Roger Ailes. Fifteen days after being successfully sued by Fox anchor Gretchen Carlson, Ailes resigned in disgrace.
The stories recounted by a number of women who also worked at Fox are beyond repulsive as sexual harassment is bound to get. Roger Ailes has been a very powerful man, both in the media and politics, for a long time. Before Fox News, Ailes strategized victories for Presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. But he let the power go to his head. Carlson was awarded a settlement of $20 million and an unprecedented apology from Fox. Ailes got a $40 million exit from Fox, and a place of esteem within the Trump campaign helping the candidate prepare for the debates and more. Donald Trump supported his buddy throughout his legal matter, and went so far as to question the veracity of the women accusing Ailes.
Next up, the man who recently got the job of Trump campaign CEO, Steve Bannon. While far from a household name, Bannon was the Executive Chairman of Breitbart News, a publication well known to the extreme right wing political world. This is a man who has been charged with misdemeanor domestic violence against his now ex-wife and sexual harassment at a previous place of employment. Bloomberg News labeled Steve Bannon the "Most Dangerous Political Operative in America". With a reported strong desire to destroy those on the left and a no holds barred approach to taking opponents down, Trump has brought in another misogynist to work the final stretch of his campaign against Hillary Clinton. Weeks before being named Trump's new campaign CEO, Steve Bannon wrote the following on the Breitbart website:
"Women are -- screwing up the internet for men by invading every space we have online and ruining it with attention-seeking and a needy, demanding, touchy-feely form of modern feminism that quickly comes into conflict with men's natural tendency to be boisterous, confrontational and delightfully autistic."
What a lineup of handpicked top advisers.
Judgement, Donald?