Former President Donald Trump is receiving widespread criticism for claiming, once again, that he wants to “protect women” during a campaign rally — this time adding that he would do so, if elected president, “whether the women like it or not.”

Trump’s remarks, which were made at a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Wednesday, echo comments he made last month, when he expressed a desire to be a “protector” for women. Trump has also claimed in recent months that women voters wouldn’t “be thinking about abortion” if he won the election against Vice President Kamala Harris.

Polling of the race demonstrates that there is a wide gender gap between the two candidates, with women preferring Harris over Trump. This gap is likely due in large part to Trump’s blatant disregard for voters’ desire to protect and expand reproductive rights in the U.S.; as president, Trump appointed three of the six Supreme Court justices who would later overturn the federal abortion protections established in Roe v. Wade.

During his rally on Wednesday night, Trump complained about his campaign staffers telling him to stop talking about being a “protector” of women, saying that he refused to follow their advice.

“They said ‘we think it’s very inappropriate for you to say so.’ — why? I’m the president, I want to protect the women of our country. … I said, ‘well, I’m going to do it whether the women like it or not,'”........

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