VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Donald Trump — the showman turned presidential candidate — has added yet another critique to his list of reasons he believes that Hillary Clinton should not be president: She simply does not look the part.
"Well, I just don't think she has a presidential look, and you need a presidential look," Trump told ABC's David Muir in an interview broadcast on Tuesday.
That echoed a remark he made on Monday, when, speaking to a small group of mostly men in Cleveland, Trump asked, "And she looks presidential, fellows?"
Trump's comments on Clinton's appearance, as well as his critiques of her stamina, have drawn criticism as being sexist. But pressed by Muir whether Trump was making an aesthetic judgment, the Republican nominee demurred.
"I'm talking about — hey, by the way she says things about me that are horrible," Trump said. "The single greatest asset that I have according to those that know me is my temperament. But she came up with this Madison Avenue line, 'Oh, let's talk about his temperament.' It's the single greatest asset I have, my temperament."
Trump's line of attack is unlikely to help him close the sizable gender gap between him and Clinton, the Democratic nominee, who would be the nation's first female president. In a new CNN/ORC poll, Clinton led Trump 52 percent to 38 percent among likely female voters.
"This isn't the first time Donald Trump has had a problem looking at someone different from himself and actually seeing them," said Clinton spokeswoman Christina Reynolds.
New York Times
