Former President Donald Trump’s patronizing comment about his intention to be a “protector” for women — who he said were lonely, stressed, depressed and unhappy — has drawn predictable backlash since the weekend.
“You will no longer be abandoned, alone, or afraid. You will no longer be in danger. … You will no longer be afraid of all the problems that our country has today,” Trump said. “You will be protected, and I will be your protector.”
Trump made the context for those assurances crystal clear when he added that women “will no longer think about abortion” if he is elected. New York magazine’s Jonathan Chait offered an astute analogy when he compared the comment to “creepy abuser logic.”
Chait is absolutely right, and when I heard Trump’s comments, they reminded me of the pickup artists made popular by the MAGA movement. These characters are men who market themselves as tutors for men who want to learn how to attract women. Their tactics are usually based on infantilizing women and their desires, promoting the idea that men should control women’s behavior, and, oddly enough, using insults (known as negging) to manipulate women’s affections. It’s misogynistic stuff.
And Trump’s well-documented spiritual connection to this community has continued for years, most notably when Esquire asked in 2016 whether Trump was “the world’s best pickup artist.” But in recent years, more connections between Trump and pickup artists have come to light.
Zak Folkman, a business partner in Trump’s latest cryptocurrency scheme, is a controversial pickup artist whose courses reportedly teach men how to “become the ultimate alpha male.” Wired recently reported on the ways in which Trump’s rhetoric mirrors that of notorious pickup artist Andrew Tate. Another pickup artist, Tariq Nasheed, is known for spreading pro-Trump propaganda and runs the MAGA-friendly group Foundational Black Americans, which pits black Americans against immigrants. Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, also has deep ties to the “manosphere,” a group of misogynist content creators that includes several self-described pickup artists. And in 2021, Jezebel noted a pair of pickup artists who appeared at the deadly January 6 insurrection.
Trump’s portrayal of himself as some kind of superhero who can solve problems every american woman’s problems is exemplary of a broader movement of misogynistic men who see women as willing targets for their manipulation.
It’s a topic that the ReidOut Blog will be exploring more deeply in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
