While polls indicate that Trump is favored by the majority of male voters, polls also indicate that Harris has a strong edge with women.
Trump’s campaign believes his focus on crime and illegal immigration will help him win over "security moms.” At his rallies, he has featured the stories of mothers whose children were killed by people in the country who are in the United States illegally. That includes Alexis Nungaray, whose 12-year-old daughter, Jocelyn, was killed by two suspected Venezuelan gang members.
The campaign also believes that Trump's frequent call to protect women from men claiming to be female will also help him win female voters.
In Salem, Virginia, on Saturday, Trump brought to the stage female athletes from Roanoke College, where a man claiming to be female had asked and then withdrew a request to join the women’s swimming team.
In a statement, Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt defended Trump’s approach. "Women deserve a President who will secure our nation’s borders, remove violent criminals from our neighborhoods, and build an economy that helps our families thrive – and that’s exactly what President Trump will do,” she said.
Several attendees at his rallies said they welcome Trump’s promise to be a “protector.”
“I want protection. I mean, we all do, right? We don’t want to feel like we’re not protected,” said Kim Saunders, 52, a small-business owner who lives in Williamsburg, Virginia. “It’s that scary feeling. So for me, it makes me feel really good to have someone protect me and a man protect me.”
She said she could not understand why women would support Harris, but thinks men are drawn to Trump because “he is that alpha male. And for me, I love the alpha male. I grew up with a dad that was an alpha male.”
Meanwhile, Harris surrogate Mark Cuban got her campaign in trouble last week when he claimed that Trump does not surround himself with strong, intelligent women. Cuban was forced to apologize when it became clear that Trump has a long history of hiring strong, intelligent women, including the women who led his 2016 campaign and now lead his 2024 campaign.
