Trump Supporters Want Young Women To Just Ignore That Whole Sexism Thing

You can't just clump "young women" into a block and generalize everything we 18 to 35-year-olds think.

That is a massive group of people consisting of millions of different life experiences and beliefs. We don't all think the same way on issues like abortion, gun control, the economy and LGBTQ+ rights. That's why some of us are Republicans, some of us are Democrats and many in between and in other parties.

But I'd like to think that young women across party lines would care about a presidential nominee saying sexist, misogynistic things in documented cases over decades. So I asked about it.

The Atlantic and Refinery 29 hosted a "Young Women Rising" panel in Cleveland on Tuesday outside of the Republican National Convention. They discussed how our generation of women is changing the political spectrum.

I couldn't have dreamed up a candidate more potentially damaging to the GOP with younger voters than Donald Trump

We can make some generalizations about us. For instance, on average we're getting married, having kids and buying houses later in life than previous women. These milestones, pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson explained, typically make people more conservative.

So by putting them off, we're staying youthfully progressive longer — not just through one presidential election, but up to three or four. This changes national demographics in voting.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump is changing the face of the Republican party. Should he lose this election, it's highly possible that his anger-stirring Republican persona will fall to the wayside for the party.

But should he win, the Republican party will see longstanding changes bending to his political thoughts — more openly against immigration, wavering on women's health and generally loud.

Although this appeals to many people, it is off-putting to many on both sides of the political spectrum. Democrats find him offensive and regressive, while conservatives find him too liberal on many issues.

Earlier in the day, I asked Anderson, author of "The Selfie Vote: Where Millennials Are Leading America (And How Republicans Can Keep Up)," if Trump could be threatening the popularity of the Republican party among the Millennial generation for years to come. She said,

I couldn't have dreamed up a candidate more potentially damaging to the GOP with younger voters than Donald Trump. In part because of the way he is sort of alienating the growing diverse coalition that is the American electorate and in the way that he has such a pessimistic view of change and where the future is going. And a lot of Millennials feel frustrated and anxious, but ultimately still optimistic. They think technology is a force for good, they see their LGBT friends gaining more rights and acceptance and think that's moving in the right direction.

Trump, Anderson said, appeals to people who think that change coming to the country is bad and harmful. But a majority of Millennials find this change a good thing.

Anderson said she doesn't think this will change how Millennials see the Republican party since most people recognize Trump as separate from the Republican party.

But how are Republican women supposed to look at Trump and his sexist comments as the man they're supposed to vote for? At the "Young Women Rising" panel, I asked how Republicans talk to young women voters about Trump and his documented history of misogynistic, objectifying comments.

Leah Le'Vell, College Student Advisor for the National Diversity Coalition for Trump, said,

There's been a lot of talk on media about how Trump words things and everything ... People are concerned about jobs, about student loans and about the safety of our country. So I feel like those issues are just as important to Millennial women as they are to all Americans. Once we get past all the liberal media and get to the issues, then people will see that Trump is for Millennial women and everybody.

Fifty-two percent of women are leaning toward Clinton while 38 percent are looking at Trump, according to the most recent Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Citations: Washington Post