Women’s Influence in Politics: “If Only Men Voted” Controversy

Recently, Eric Trump, son of Republican candidate Donald Trump, sent out an email to his fellow Trump supporters. What was interesting about this email, however, was that it contained a gender electoral map pertaining to Trump voters.

This gender electoral map foreshadows how many electoral votes Trump would receive in the upcoming election depending on which gender votes. Gender electoral maps over the last 25 years have proven more women support the Democratic candidate instead of the Republican candidate. However, the map Eric Trump sent out is not what is causing a frenzy among the American voters; it is his motivation behind the map.

Eric Trump used the map to support his argument that if only males voted, Trump would win the election by an overwhelming amount of electoral votes. This was used to gain more money from the Trump supporters for the campaign. In the email, Eric Trump states, “As one of the most dedicated grassroots leaders in the country you know, momentum matters. And right now, all the momentum is on our side.”

New fundraising email from Eric Trump tells supporters campaign is making "huge gains" and includes this gif pic.twitter.com/MvUUCU7b3d

— Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) October 12, 2016

However, Eric Trump’s statement and evidence of map riled most American voters, especially women. Most are upset, because they claim that Eric Trump implied that women should not vote, which is against the 19th Amendment in the U.S. Constitution; however, it is not really against the amendment to just suggest women do not vote. This anger is not beneficial for Trump’s campaign, especially after Trump’s scandal regarding his demeaning words towards women.

When asked about their opinion on women’s influence in politics, Senior, Jenna Wiley commented, “The Electoral College is all about the majority and if women take up 54% of the population, then they are the majority. If you don’t want women voting, then the Electoral College is pointless in a way.”

Junior, Christina Alarcon, a passionate advocate for feminism, thinks that “it will make the next generation of women not want to vote, because they will feel that their votes do not matter, yet they do. People say that women are exactly equal, yet we are not; it is an ongoing battle that has recently been resurfaced.”

On Twitter, Trump supporters trended #RepealThe19th as an agreement to Eric Trump’s comment. However, Freshman, Casey Tevlin thinks that “The hashtag is offensive. It is ridiculous how women voting has become an issue again. I think this will cause more sexism towards women, affecting society as whole, not just in politics, negatively.”

Other men and women have also spoken about their opinions:

In response to a study showing Trump would win if only men voted, some of his backers are tweeting #RepealThe19th. DEPLORABLE. #WomenSaveUs

— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) October 12, 2016

When you see people who wish to #RepealThe19th all over your mentions and remember that you get to crush their hopes in November. pic.twitter.com/kn5TUcvlwu

— Marybeth Glenn (@MBGlenn) October 13, 2016

I just saw a woman tweet that we should #RepealThe19th.

Her bio says "Defender of the US Constitution." Oh, the irony.

— DCBlueStar (@DCBlueStar) October 13, 2016

You laugh now, #repealthe19th
But after election: pic.twitter.com/vaVMsdTzUf

— Rachel Griffin (@rachelgriffin22) October 13, 2016

Sophomore, Robin-Sailor Zander expressed how this scandal will influence Hillary Clinton, Trump’s opposition’s, campaign, “Eric Trump’s comment most likely angered Hillary Clinton too, because she is a woman. I think she will use this in her favor, but that’s not playing the “woman’s card”; it’s just politics. She should use this in her favor, because she is using their own words against them, not making words up.”

Eric Trump’s controversial email might have negatively impacted Donald Trump’s campaign because statistically women do consist of 54% of the population.