As the 2016 presidential campaign winds down to its (thankfully) final days, the phrase “nasty woman” has become something of a rally cry for supporters of Hillary Clinton. The “nasty woman” meme began at the third and final debate when former reality TV star Donald Trump interrupted Clinton while she was answering a question about entitlement programs by saying, apropos of nothing, that Clinton was “such a nasty woman.”
For Trump, whose deficit among female voters is significant, the outburst was, to put it lightly, ill-advised. While many GOP officials have distanced themselves from Trump, whose campaign has gone into free-fall after the revelation of an 11-year old tape showing him bragging about how his wealth and fame allow him to commit sexual assault with impunity, others are sticking by their nominee.
As CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski points out, in an interview on the Alan Colmes Show on Thursday, Congressman Brian Babin (R-Texas) defended Trump’s statement, saying, “sometimes a lady needs to be told when she’s being nasty.”
Babin’s comments came in response to a question about about the relative performance of the two candidates during the debate.
“Who won the debate last night?” asked Colmes.
“I think Mr. Turmp won it hands down. He was talking the issues and it seemed like, Ms. Clinton, all she could do was just attack,” replied Babin.
“Attack?” said Colmes. “He called her a ‘nasty woman.’ Is that appropriate?”
“Well, you know what, she’s saying some nasty things,” Babin said. “I think sometimes a lady needs to be told when she’s being nasty.”
Colmes then pushed Babin on whether or not he agreed with Trump that Clinton was, “a nasty woman.”
Babin tried to deflect the question, asserting that Clinton has done some nasty things and then tried to move onto other topics, like “the civil unrest… refugees… and open borders.”
A recent poll showed Democrats maintaining a 12-point lead over Republicans in a “generic” race with no specifically named candidates about who voters would elect in November. If this number is accurate, and the sentiment it represents holds until election day, it could mean Democrats gain control of the House of Representatives during the next congressional session.
H/T CNN