What examples of misogynistic language or behavior has Donald Trump used in public statements?
Executive summary
Donald Trump has repeatedly used demeaning language about women in public statements and media appearances, ranging from crude sexual boasts to personal insults and gendered stereotyping; these instances have been widely documented by major outlets including BBC, Time, PBS and others [1] [2] [3]. Reporting also ties his rhetoric to patterns—shaming women for appearance or alleged sexual behavior, giving explicit sexual boasts, and singling out female politicians with gendered descriptors—that scholars and commentators identify as misogynistic [4] [1].
1. "Grab them by the pussy": explicit sexual boasting that normalizes assault
One of the most consequential and often-cited examples is the Access Hollywood tape in which Trump bragged about sexual assault with the line "grab them by the pussy," a phrase that press coverage and analysts described as him admitting to and normalizing non-consensual contact and objectifying women [2]. Time framed the comment as both an admission and a crystallizing moment of his long history of demeaning talk about women, arguing the tape revealed how his language treats women as objects rather than equals [2].
2. Repeated insults attacking looks and body—“horseface,” “fat pigs,” and personal shaming
Across decades, Trump has publicly lobbed demeaning appearance-based insults at women—calling critics things like "horseface," "fat pigs," "slobs" and "dogs"—language compiled by outlets such as Business Insider and Cosmopolitan and summarized as a pattern of reducing women to body-based ridicule [5] [6]. Journalistic roundups and academic discourse analyses have read these recurring epithets as part of a strategy to belittle and delegitimize female opponents and public figures [7] [5].
3. Targeting women’s competence with gendered descriptors—“the woman,” “not smart”
Trump’s public remarks often mark female figures primarily by their gender rather than credentials, such as referring to career diplomat Marie Yovanovitch generically as "the woman," which commentators and psychologists flagged as gendered language that invokes stereotypes and diminishes professional standing [1]. Reporting notes this tendency to preface attacks with gendered framing, a rhetorical move that scholars say taps into unconscious stereotypes and undermines a woman's authority [1].
4. Sexualized innuendo and reposts about female politicians
Multiple outlets documented how Trump shared or amplified sexually explicit or demeaning innuendo about political women, including vulgar posts targeting Vice President Kamala Harris that referenced oral sex and reposted crude jokes—moves critics called "vulgar" and misogynistic and outlets like MSNBC and The Guardian tracked these incidents [8]. Coverage framed such amplification as part of a pattern of sexualized attacks meant to humiliate female rivals and distract from policy debate [8].
5. Public shaming of specific women: Rosie O’Donnell, Alicia Machado, and others
Trump’s long public feud with Rosie O'Donnell—calling her "fat" and "a pig" and promising to "take lots of money from my nice fat little Rosie"—has been repeatedly documented as emblematic of his personal attacks on women [6] [7]. Similarly, his public shaming of Miss Universe winner Alicia Machado for gaining weight was highlighted by PBS and other outlets as a pattern of humiliating women publicly for appearance and past behavior [3].
6. Scholars and journalists see a pattern; some defenders call it political rhetoric
Academic analyses and press commentary characterize Trump’s language as an ongoing pattern of misogyny—ranging from explicit sexual boasts to demeaning nicknames and gendered dismissal—while some political defenders frame the rhetoric as abrasive political combat rather than misogyny per se [7] [4]. Coverage often notes both the empirical record of comments and the interpretive dispute: critics argue these remarks have material effects on women’s public standing, whereas defenders sometimes portray them as standard campaign invective [4] [9].
7. Context and limits of available reporting
The provided reporting documents many public statements and media moments but does not exhaust every utterance nor adjudicate legal claims tied to assault allegations; outlets like PBS have catalogued allegations separately from rhetorical examples, and fact-checkers record broader patterns of falsehoods and controversy without making legal judgments about every personal claim [10] [9]. This record shows a consistent public pattern of derogatory, sexualized, and gendered language in Trump’s public remarks as reported by multiple mainstream sources [2] [1] [5].