This is definitely an aspect of the fake news industry that has flourished in the Age of Trump. The AP was trying to raise the alarm that Trump’s reelection is in deep trouble because white professional women won’t vote for him. To prove this they interviewed a handful of women who didn’t vote for him in 2016 and say they will also not vote for him in 2020. It seems to me that positions Trump to do exactly as well as he did in 2016, but I don’t have a false narrative to push.
The AP warns: Suburban Women Recoil as Trump Dives Into Racial Politics
Check out how many times the AP says Trump is in deep doo doo with women for being a racist:
Suburban women recoil from Trump’s abrasive rhetoric as he dives into racial politics.
Many professional, suburban women — a critical voting bloc in the 2020 election — recoil at the abrasive, divisive rhetoric, exposing the president to a potential wave of opposition in key battlegrounds across the country.
…women in critical suburbs, nearly all expressed dismay — or worse — at Trump’s racially polarizing insults and what was often described as unpresidential treatment of people.
A continuing trend of women voting against Republicans could prove exceedingly difficult for Trump to overcome in his 2020 reelection bid.
…interviews with women reveal a clear discomfort with Trump’s character: It emerged again and again in the AP’s interviews and was a consistent objection cited by women across the political spectrum.
Such women are an electoral threat to the president in large part because women outnumber and outvote men…
There’s actually a ton more of this, but you get the point. The AP is trying to say that based on their interviews with women, Trump’s reelection bid is doomed. Okay, now let’s look at those interviews that The AP is basing this prediction on.
First there’s this chick who didn’t vote for Trump in 2016 and probably won’t vote for anyone in 2020:
In the Detroit suburb of Novi, where Democrat Hillary Clinton narrowly beat Trump in 2016, pet store worker Emily West says she probably would have cast her ballot for Trump if she had voted in 2016. Now, she’s primed to vote against him.
“It was mainly when he got into office when my opinion started changing,” said West, 26. “Just the way he treats people.”
Don’t worry, The AP also interviewed people who actually vote, like this democrat:
In Novi, Michigan, Yael Telgheder, 36, says she tends to vote Democratic and reluctantly voted for Clinton in 2016, “even though I didn’t like either, by the way.” Asked about Trump, the database manager lowers her voice.
“I don’t think I should say those words in front of my daughter,” she said, her 3-year-old next to her. “To be honest, there are certain things that — he’s a businessman — so I understand the reasons behind them. But all of the disrespect and lies and stuff like that, it’s just too much for me.”
What? A democrat who voted for Hillary won’t be voting for Trump in 2020? How can he even compete?
Then there is this registered democrat:
“The way he treats people, it’s horrible,” said Victoria Galiczynski, a 63-year-old registered Democrat, before she pushed her shopping cart into an upscale grocery store in Newtown.
The AP couldn’t manage to get a quote out of this last woman on whether or not she’ll be voting for Trump in 2020, but let’s assume she won’t.
The AP also interviewed 3 women who are described as either “Trump supporters” or “Republicans” and none of them said they would vote against Trump in 2020.
I’m not kidding when I say that is the extent of The AP’s interviews with women regarding Trump. If you’re keeping track at home, 3 who didn’t vote for him still probably won’t vote for him and 3 who did vote for him probably will vote for him again. Statistically speaking that’s a wash: no loss and no gain. Everything remains the same.
How do these 6 interviews support The AP’s claim that women are turning away from Trump and putting his reelection campaign in jeopardy? The correct answer is: they don’t. Also keep in mind that The AP entered this article with a preconceived notion that Trump was shedding female support. They desperately wanted to find women who formerly supported Trump but have been repulsed by him and won’t vote for him in 2020 but couldn’t get even one.
A more honest headline would have been: “Women Who Have Always Hated Trump Continue To Do So” or “Democrats Continue To be Democrats.”
