District 4 Vice President Linda Hinton: Women Can’t Afford to Elect Sexist Trump

District 4 Vice President Linda Hinton, who leads CWA Women for Political Power, wrote about why electing Donald Trump would be disastrous for working women:

The stakes have never been higher than this election, and women can't afford to elect Donald Trump as our president. Trump is a sexist who would set women back decades if elected.

Trump's views on women in the workplace would fit right in on Mad Men. Trump has said that "putting a wife to work is a very dangerous thing." He's said, "I don’t want to sound too much like a chauvinist — but when I come home and dinner's not ready, I go through the roof." He sounds like a chauvinist to me.

Trump thinks pregnancy is "an inconvenience," and that breastfeeding working mothers are "disgusting." He has no plan on making sure that women receive equal pay for equal work aside from saying, "You're gonna make the same if you do as good a job." Trump has criticized paid family leave, saying, "We have to keep our country very competitive, so you have to be careful of it."

Trump doesn't have a clue about the challenges of a working mother. He bragged about a childcare program for his employees, but fact-checking revealed that the program was actually only available to the children of his hotel and golf club guests — not his employees.

Trump's sexist behavior isn't limited to his incoherent, inadequate workplace policies. After the leak of a 2005 tape in which Trump lewdly bragged about kissing and groping women without their consent — saying that "when you're a star, they let you do it" — multiple women have come forward with horrific stories of how Trump grabbed them inappropriately. Competitors in the 1997 Miss Teen USA beauty pageant soon revealed that Trump walked into their dressing room while they were changing.

Trump enjoys evaluating women based on their appearance, calling women he dislikes "pigs," "dogs," and "slobs." Former Miss Universe Alicia Machado has revealed Trump's disgusting insults to her, calling her "Miss Piggy" as a criticism of her weight, and calling her "Miss Housekeeping" because she is Latina. And Trump is an equal opportunity misogynist. It doesn't matter if you're Latina, African-African, Asian or white. His contempt and sexism is consistent.

It's time for us to take a stand against Trump's sexism and hatred towards women. Hillary Clinton has been a lifelong advocate for women and for policies that help working people, and she'll make an excellent first female president of the United States. After 44 male presidents, it's long overdue.

Voters agree. Ohio used to be one of Trump's strongest battleground states. But Buckeye State women are expressing deep disgust for Trump's vulgarities, catapulting Clinton into the lead. Trump currently trails Clinton in Ohio by 9 points, and if Election Day ballots add up to anything near that new survey, Trump will lose in a landslide.

My union, the Communications Workers of America, is building on that momentum. I'm proud to lead a new union program, CWA Women for Political Power, to elect Hillary Clinton the nation's first female president. We'll be phone banking and rallying throughout Ohio, spotlighting the power of women workers to move the country forward on issues like fair pay and paid sick leave.

Together with the women and men of CWA, I will be working hard until Election Day to make sure our country rejects Donald Trump's toxic, sexist views. As women, we cannot afford to sit this election out.

Find out more and get involved in CWA Women for Political Power here.