President Donald Trump is “for women,” he says, but he’s not about to call himself a feminist.
In an interview with British TV personality Piers Morgan, which aired on ITV in the U.K. on Sunday, Trump said identifying as a feminist is “going too far,” and that he instead prefers to be “for everyone.” Morgan also asked Trump about climate change and a controversial retweet that appeared to promote Britain First, a far-right U.K. organization that Morgan called “racist” and “fascist.” But it was Trump’s views about women—as the president has been accused by over a dozen women of sexual harassment and assault—that were most eyebrow-raising.
“No, I wouldn’t say I’m a feminist,” Trump told Morgan, CNN reports. “I’m for women. I’m for men. I’m for everyone. I think people have to go out… and they have to win. And women are doing great, and I’m happy about that.”
As for what “everyone” is supposed to “win” and how women are “doing great,” Trump did not explain. But Trump apparently doesn’t think all women are doing that great at winning, as he also argued that this year’s Women’s March in Washington wasn’t quite as large as last year’s, suggesting that women’s stamina is dying down.
“You’re always going to have marches,” Trump said according to CNN. “The march, I guess, was a lot smaller than it was last year.”
While Trump is technically correct—2018’s Women’s Marches saw crowds of around 1.6 million to 2.5 million compared to 2017’s 4.2 million—Trump shouldn’t be so quick to compare numbers. Despite bringing in 3 million viewers to the interview special on Sunday, ITV struggled to top BBC News’ 10pm news report, which brought in nearly 4 million viewers, the Guardian reports. Then again, maybe people in the U.K. can more easily turn a deaf ear to Trump than Americans can.
