FACT CHECK: Donald Trump Is Not Fit to Be President

For Immediate Release: Oct. 20, 2016

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Trump has repeatedly dismissed, demeaned, and insulted women. Not only does that have dangerous policy consequences, but that’s not the example we want to set for our daughters or our sons.

• A recently leaked video of Trump speaking with Billy Bush in 2005 revealed Trump bragging about committing sexual assault, saying that “when you’re a star,” you can kiss them and “grab them” by their genitals without waiting for their consent. [Washington Post, 10/8/16]

• Asked during the second presidential debate about the tape of his bragging about sexual assault, Trump said it was mere “locker room talk” and that his description of sexual assault doesn’t compare to what ISIS does. [New York Times, 10/10/16]

• At the first presidential debate in September, Hillary Clinton rightly called out Donald Trump for his incredibly long record of misogyny, including his denigration of former Miss Universe Alicia Machado. Days later, in the wee hours of the morning, he went on another one of his infamous Twitter rants, this time to further smear and slut-shame Machado as “disgusting” — proving yet again that Trump lacks the temperament to be president and even the slightest level of respect for women,. [BuzzFeed, 9/30/16]

• Throughout his career, Trump has used slurs and insults to attack women. He has called various women “big, fat pig,” “disgusting pig,” “dog” “slob,” “disgusting,” and “animal.” [USA Today, 8/12/15]

• Trump insinuated that FOX anchor Megyn Kelly was menstruating during the first Republican debate as a way to dismiss what she was saying. “‘You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her — wherever,’ he told anchor Don Lemon during an appearance on CNN. The crudeness of the comment sparked an immediate flurry of rebukes.” [POLITICO, 8/7/15]

• Trump criticized Carly Fiorina’s face. "Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?! I mean, she's a woman, and I’m not s'posedta say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?" [Rolling Stone, 9/10/15]

• Trump said Hillary Clinton doesn’t look presidential — which, given his history of insulting women for their physical appearance, was interpreted by many as sexist. Trump: “I just don’t believe she has a presidential look, and you need a presidential look.” [ABC News, 9/6/16]

• Trump screamed at a woman attorney “You’re disgusting, you’re disgusting” when she said she needed to take a break during a deposition to pump milk for her breastfeeding baby. [CNN, 7/29/15]

• Trump said “there are major problems” with women serving in combat. [CBS News, 12/6/15]

• Trump blamed the epidemic of sexual assault in the military on letting men and women serve together. [Twitter, 5/7/13]

• Trump recently doubled down on this tweet during the “Commander-in-Chief Forum” in September, saying that his 2013 tweet was “correct.” [TIME, 9/7/16]

 

Donald Trump is racist and xenophobic.

• Trump launched his presidential campaign with a speech describing Mexican immigrants as criminals, drug dealers, and rapists. "When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems to us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people." [The Telegraph, 6/16/15]

• Trump dragged his feet on disavowing the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).

  • Asked about being supported by Duke, Trump said, "People like me across the board… Everybody likes me." [Vice, 12/13/15]

  • Trump declined three times to disavow support from white supremacist groups and former KKK leader David Duke. [Huffington Post,2/28/16]

  • Trump blamed his refusal to disavow David Duke’s support on a “bad earpiece.”“That Monday on NBC's ‘Today,’ Trump blamed his refusal to condemn Duke and the KKK on a lousy earpiece but continued to hedge against disavowing the support of ‘groups’ he doesn't know anything about. [NBC News, 2/30/16]

• Trump said a judge should be disqualified just because of his Mexican heritage.

  • Trump spent more than 10 minutes at a rally attacking a federal judge overseeing a lawsuit against Trump University for being a “hater” and “very hostile” to Trump, and mentioned that Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who was born in Indiana, “happens to be, we believe, Mexican.” [Washington Post, 5/27/16]

  • Trump doubled down on his attacks on Judge Curiel, saying he had “an absolute conflict” because Judge Curiel is “of Mexican heritage” and therefore could not be impartial because, Trump said, “I’m building a wall. It’s an inherent conflict of interest.” [Wall Street Journal, 6/3/16]

  • Trump repeatedly refused to back down from his attacks on Judge Curiel and his Mexican heritage. When asked by Fox News’s Jeanine Pirro why he continued to reference Curiel’s ethnicity, Trump said “Well, because his heritage is Mexican.” Asked if he needed to dial back his rhetoric, Trump said, “I have to be what I have to be.” [Politico, 8/10/16]

  • Trump’s comments were condemned by his fellow Republicans for being racist: “Some of Trump's GOP colleagues now say that they are unsure whether they can support him as their party's nominee based on rhetoric many have derided as racist, while others have criticized the remarks but continued to say that the party's goal is to elect Trump and defeat Hillary Clinton.” [NBC News, 6/9/16]

  • Trump also said a Muslim judge might be similarly biased, because of his call to ban Muslims: On CBS’s Face the Nation, the host John Dickerson asked Trump if a Muslim judge would be similarly biased because of his call for a ban on Muslim immigrants. Trump said: “It’s possible, yes. Yeah. That would be possible. Absolutely.” When Dickerson then said there was a tradition in the U.S. of not judging people based on their heritage, Trump’s response was, “I’m not talking about tradition, I’m talking about common sense, O.K.?” [The New York Times, 6/6/16]

  • Trump called for ban on all Muslims entering the United States: In a statement Trump called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.” [Donald Trump Press Release, 12/7/15]

  • Trump “celebrated” Cinco de Mayo by bragging on Twitter about the Trump Tower Grill “taco bowls” and saying “I love Hispanics.” [Twitter, 5/5/16]

  • Trump “joked” about being attacked by Mexico. During a campaign event in New Hampshire, when a plane flew overhead, Trump said, “That could be a Mexican plane up there. They’re getting ready to attack.” [Politico, 8/10/16]

  • Trump has said he would be open to profiling American Muslims. Trump said during an interview on CBS that although he hates “the concept of profiling,” when it comes to American Muslims, “I think profiling is something that we’re going to have to start thinking about as a country.” [CBS News , 8/10/16]

  • Donald Trump tweeted, then deleted, an anti-Hillary meme “that used dog-whistle anti-Semitism,” which originated from a neo-Nazi web forum. [Mic, 7/3/16]

• Trump has repeatedly made offensive comments describing Black and Latino neighborhoods as “inner cities" filled with “broken homes,” while he simultaneously asks Black and Latinos voters what they “have to lose” by supporting him. [Real Clear Politics, 8/22/16,;WashingtonPost,  8/22/16]]

• During the first presidential debate, Trump said, “We have a situation where we have our inner cities —, African- Americans, Hispanics — are living in hell because it's so dangerous. You walk down the street, you get shot.” [First presidential debate transcript, Washington Post, 9/26/16]

• During the second presidential debate, Trump doubled down on his offensive language about Black and Latino neighborhoods, calling them "a disaster." [Second presidential debate transcript, New York Times, 10/10/16]

• Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump, Jr. — who is also an adviser and surrogate for the campaign — has repeatedly shared racist memes on social media. [Vanity Fair, 9/11/16]

  • Trump Jr. tweeted a a Trump-Pence branded meme comparing Syrian refugees to deadly Skittles. [Twitter, 9/19/16]

  • “Donald Trump Jr.’s tweet comparing Syrian refugees to Skittles has deep roots. The concept dates back at least to 1938 and a children’s book called Der Giftpilz, or The Toadstool, in which a mother explains to her son that it only takes one Jew to destroy an entire people.” The campaign has yet to renounce or even apologize for his actions. [The Intercept, 9/20/16]

• Donald Trump Jr. gave a 20-minute interview to a white-supremacist radio host in March. [Reuters, 3/3/16]

Donald Trump is a bully, and his rhetoric and policies are outlandish, offensive, inflammatory, and dangerous.

• Trump suggested that “the Second Amendment people” might be able to do something if Hillary Clinton is elected and is able to “pick her judges” — a statement widely interpreted as a call for violence against Hillary Clinton. [YouTube, 8/19/16]

• Trump said it’s “fun” to have protesters ejected from his rallies. When he was interrupted during a rally in Burlington, Vermont, Trump told security, “Throw them out into the cold … Don't give them their coats. No coats! Confiscate their coats. … It's about 10 degrees below zero outside. ... You can keep his coat; tell him we'll send it to him in a couple of weeks.” [The Hill, 1/7/16]

• Trump said he wanted to punch a protester in the face. “Trump repeatedly told the crowd that he wished for the ‘old days,’ adding, ‘You know what they used to do to guys like that when they were in a place like this? They’d be carried out on a stretcher. … I’d like to punch him in the face, I’ll tell ya,” Mr. Trump added. [NYT, 2/23/16]

• Trump defended his supporters who use violence against protesters, claiming protesters are the violent ones. Describing one incident of violence at a rally, Trump said: “It was a guy who was swinging — was very loud — and then started swinging at the audience. And you know what? It swung back. And I thought it was very, very appropriate. He was swinging. He was hitting people. And the audience hit back. And that’s what we need a little bit more of.” [Huffington Post, 3/11/16]

• Trump offered to pay the legal fees for supporters who become violent toward protesters. At a rally in Iowa, Trump said, “If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously. OK? Just knock the hell — I promise you, I will pay for the legal fees.” [Huffington Post, 3/11/16]

• Trump said he would target not only terrorists, but also their families. “When you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families. They care about their lives, don't kid yourself. But they say they don't care about their lives. You have to take out their families." [The Hill, 12/2/15]

• A Muslim woman wearing a hijab was ejected from a Trump rally for silently protesting Trump’s anti-Muslim proposals and rhetoric. After she was removed, Trump said: "There is hatred against us that is unbelievable. It's their hatred, it's not our hatred." [CNN, 1/11/16]