[Trump’s]image among women has grown increasingly negative over the course of the primary campaign — a campaign in which Trump’s offensive comments about women became a major issue. Indeed, a majority of women now rate Trump very unfavorably.
In fact, the percentage of women who rated Trump very unfavorably in YouGov’s biweekly surveys has increased significantly — from around 45 percent in January to nearly 60 percent by the end of April. Meanwhile, the percentage of men who rated Trump very unfavorably hasn’t really changed.
This pattern is especially pronounced among political independents. The graph below shows a 20-point increase in the percentage of female independents rating Trump very unfavorably. Again, Trump’s image among independent men is more stable, making the gender gap increasingly pronounced.
The same pattern also emerges in RAND’s Presidential Election Panel Survey (PEPS) — a project that re-interviewed more than 2,600 people in March who were also surveyed in December. Among female independents, the percentage who rated Trump very unfavorably increased from 50 percent in December to 56 percent in March.
Male independents did not shift their views of Trump. In fact, after accounting for several other factors, gender was the only factor significantly associated with those who rated Trump more unfavorably in March than in December.
It’s not surprising to me that so many women would be appalled by Donald Trump. As I’ve said before, it’s as if the Republicans had chosen David Duke to run against Barack Obama in 2008.
But it’s also awfully depressing that so many men in this country really don’t give a damn about this. Trump can spew sexist stuff all day long and it doesn’t make them think any less of him.
Sad!
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