Rep. Luis Gutierrez said Donald Trump’s name-calling targeted at a former beauty queen is alienating two key demographics — women and Latinos, and those voters are paying attention.
“I see this as kind of the intersection of Latinos and women for Donald Trump,” the Illinois Democrat told CNN’s Chris Cuomo Wednesday. “It’s almost like a ghost from the past had arrived on the scene. He knew what he had said to her. He remembers full well what he had said to her, and he knows that women are watching.”
Former “Miss Universe” Alicia Machado called Trump “aggressive” and “really rude” Tuesday while recapping her time in the 1996 “Miss Universe” competition. She said Trump, who owned the pageant at the time, had called her “Miss Housekeeping” and “Miss Piggy” when she gained weight after winning the contest.
Gutierrez said Trump mistreated a young woman because of her ethnicity.
“This is a 19-year-old vulnerable young woman away from her parents in New York City. A very vulnerable young woman and this is the way he treats her,” he said. “And then he says you’re Miss Housekeeping. That kind of work is the only work that Latinos do.”
Gutierrez, a Hillary Clinton supporter, added, “I kind of thought about Megyn Kelly and then I thought about (Carly) Fiorina and the kinds of attacks that he made against them. It’s a continuum. Things haven’t changed.”
“As you look at this election, you need to look at Donald Trump and his relationship with women and the way he speaks to women and about women.”
But New York Rep. Chris Collins, also appearing on CNN’s “New Day,” said Clinton bringing up Machado during the debate was reflection of the Democratic candidate’s inability to focus on “important issues.”
“She can’t talk about trade. She can’t talk about the defense against ISIS, so she brings up issues like this, which aren’t the important issues,” the Trump supporter said. “We need jobs. We need to move this country forward. And it just shows the desperation in the debate how she brought something up like this out of left field.”
Collins said Trump’s record of supporting women speaks for itself and that women voters will get behind that.
“Just look at the way Donald Trump has promoted women and treats women in his own organization. That’s where the rubber hits the road,” he said. “The women that work for Donald Trump hold some of the highest positions in his company.”
“It’s actions that matter, not Mrs. Clinton’s words who never created a job for anyone other than her daughter, Chelsea,” Collins added.