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The One Thing Trump's RNC Speech Totally Missed

Donald Trump's speech really surprised me, and that's saying something. I think most people out there have learned to expect the unexpected with Trump; the Republican Presidential candidate with a penchant for drama is a well-known anti-establishment maverick. And his speech was certainly in line with his usual rhetoric: Make America Great Again, I am your voice, build a wall, etc. Trump talked about foreign policy, law enforcement, the economy. But there was one thing missing from Trump's RNC speech that took me by surprise: women. Where were the women, Mr. Trump, where?

This was the biggest speech of Trump's campaign so far. This was his chance to prove his detractors wrong. He could have really shown us that he considered women — considered mothers in particular — in his campaign platform. He could have shown me, a single mother, that he wanted to understand what it was like to work multiple jobs for minimum wage while my kids were in day care I could barely afford. He could have told women what he planned to do about paid maternity leave, about health care, about equal pay for equal work.

Instead, Trump had a commercial play at the beginning of the last night of the RNC to show us not that he considered women in his campaign, but that women he paid thought well of him. The commercial showed women talking about what a great man Trump is, how he works so hard and "always comes in under budget", which should maybe tell us that Trump really has no idea what women want from their presidential candidate.

Well, here is one issue Trump thinks we little ladies might be having these days. According to Trump chairman Paul Manfort, when asked about the lack of women voting for Trump, he said:

Well, again, it depends on which women you're talking about, there's many women in this country feel they can't afford their lives. Their husbands can't afford paying for the family bills. Hillary Clinton is guilty of being part of the establishment that created that problem. They're going to hear the message. That's how we're going to appeal to them.

So we women are just worried our men won't be able to pay the bills. Because we are all heterosexual married women with children and no jobs, right? And now I. Can't. Even.

Let's compare Trump's policy on women's rights to his opponent's, Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Democratic Presidential candidate has made women's rights a priority for decades. She has fought for reproductive rights, equal pay, and family leave benefits. She has been endorsed by Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America, who chose Clinton over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders because, “His voting record is sufficient, but it doesn’t make him a champion for women. That champion is Hillary.”

On Clinton's website she has clearly outlined her plan for women if she becomes President of the United States. She plans to"

  • Work to close the pay gap
  • Fight for paid leave
  • Increase the minimum wage
  • efend and enhance social security
  • Proudly stand with Planned Parenthood
  • Confront violence against women
  • Protect and expand the Affordable Care Act
  • Protect women's health and reproductive rights
  • Protect women's rights around the globe

If Donald Trump could not even be bothered to mention women's rights in this, the most important speech he will give in his campaign while trying to actually get people to vote for him, what will he do for women if he makes it to the White House?