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Trump and Cruz’s war on wives reveals the male violence lurking in US politics Trump and Cruz’s war on wives reveals the male violence lurking in US politics
(5 months later)
Once more to this most encouraging of Republican primary races, which recently moved into its wife-shaming and serial killers phase. Two of the most intriguing US demographics are unattractive women who’d vote for Trump (ladies, he nakedly despises you), and the many people who ask Google every day if Ted Cruz is the Zodiac killer (who terrorised California in the late 60s and early 70s). You know, like it’s a perfectly reasonable possibility in this election.Once more to this most encouraging of Republican primary races, which recently moved into its wife-shaming and serial killers phase. Two of the most intriguing US demographics are unattractive women who’d vote for Trump (ladies, he nakedly despises you), and the many people who ask Google every day if Ted Cruz is the Zodiac killer (who terrorised California in the late 60s and early 70s). You know, like it’s a perfectly reasonable possibility in this election.
Related: Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have gone full caveman | Jessica Valenti
Of course, Trump despises all women, hot or not, in any meaningful sense, with his failure to realise it being one of the many personal tragedies that have left him crying all the way to the bank, and doubtless to the Republican nomination. If you think he wouldn’t monster even his wife if there were so much as a state in it, then you probably also believe his claim that “only I” can destroy Islamic State.Of course, Trump despises all women, hot or not, in any meaningful sense, with his failure to realise it being one of the many personal tragedies that have left him crying all the way to the bank, and doubtless to the Republican nomination. If you think he wouldn’t monster even his wife if there were so much as a state in it, then you probably also believe his claim that “only I” can destroy Islamic State.
This week he responded to an attack ad featuring a nude modelling shot of his wife, Melania (handcuffed to a briefcase on a fur rug), by threatening to “spill the beans” on Cruz’s wife, Heidi. “No need to spill the beans,” he later reflected above a photo of Melania juxtaposed with a photo of Heidi. “The images are worth a thousand words.”This week he responded to an attack ad featuring a nude modelling shot of his wife, Melania (handcuffed to a briefcase on a fur rug), by threatening to “spill the beans” on Cruz’s wife, Heidi. “No need to spill the beans,” he later reflected above a photo of Melania juxtaposed with a photo of Heidi. “The images are worth a thousand words.”
As for Cruz, it seems unlikely that he is responsible for a series of brutal historic murders, at least one of which happened two years before he was born. Still, I’m sure the deeply fastidious Trump wouldn’t dream of eliminating him from the Zodiac inquiry until this has been definitively proved.As for Cruz, it seems unlikely that he is responsible for a series of brutal historic murders, at least one of which happened two years before he was born. Still, I’m sure the deeply fastidious Trump wouldn’t dream of eliminating him from the Zodiac inquiry until this has been definitively proved.
In the meantime, there is Trump’s own fictional role in a series of brutal murders to be considered. I am grateful to a New York Times article for reminding me how completely obsessed Patrick Bateman – the sensationally horrifying anti-hero of Bret Easton Ellis’s novel American Psycho – was with the then real estate mogul. (There is no one I would currently like to read more on Trump than Ellis, incidentally, though perhaps he feels that deeply moral book said it all a chastening quarter of a century ago.)In the meantime, there is Trump’s own fictional role in a series of brutal murders to be considered. I am grateful to a New York Times article for reminding me how completely obsessed Patrick Bateman – the sensationally horrifying anti-hero of Bret Easton Ellis’s novel American Psycho – was with the then real estate mogul. (There is no one I would currently like to read more on Trump than Ellis, incidentally, though perhaps he feels that deeply moral book said it all a chastening quarter of a century ago.)
Picking up my copy, I chanced to open it on a page where Bateman relates, in that mesmerically affectless tone: “The Patty Winters Show this morning was in two parts. The first was an exclusive interview with Donald Trump, the second was a report on women who’ve been tortured.”Picking up my copy, I chanced to open it on a page where Bateman relates, in that mesmerically affectless tone: “The Patty Winters Show this morning was in two parts. The first was an exclusive interview with Donald Trump, the second was a report on women who’ve been tortured.”
Well, quite. I do wish these homicidal hilarities had not been bubbling away in the very week that the wives of Trump and Cruz were brought into play. It makes for the most unsettling blurring.Well, quite. I do wish these homicidal hilarities had not been bubbling away in the very week that the wives of Trump and Cruz were brought into play. It makes for the most unsettling blurring.
Notable episodes from Trump’s life already sound like repulsively comic Bateman antics. “Your fucking doctor has ruined me!” screams Trump at his first wife, Ivana, after his plastic surgeon has botched his bald spot removal. There immediately follows, according to Ivana’s account, a “violent assault” where he pulls out clumps of her hair and “jams his penis inside her”, which Trump denies.Notable episodes from Trump’s life already sound like repulsively comic Bateman antics. “Your fucking doctor has ruined me!” screams Trump at his first wife, Ivana, after his plastic surgeon has botched his bald spot removal. There immediately follows, according to Ivana’s account, a “violent assault” where he pulls out clumps of her hair and “jams his penis inside her”, which Trump denies.
Just over the fictional boundary, Bateman himself had previously been called to defend the hotness of a Trump wife, after his girlfriend thinks she spots her in some upscale restaurant. “How could you mistake that wench for Ivana?” he explodes.Just over the fictional boundary, Bateman himself had previously been called to defend the hotness of a Trump wife, after his girlfriend thinks she spots her in some upscale restaurant. “How could you mistake that wench for Ivana?” he explodes.
For Cruz, the wench-baiting has gone too far. “Donald,” he said into a TV camera on Thursday night, with a jab of his finger, “you’re a snivelling coward, and leave Heidi the hell alone.” His handlers will be hoping that came across as sufficiently muscular and intemperate. After all, some terrible notional things have been done to candidates’ wives in US elections, and a man’s visceral response is vital.For Cruz, the wench-baiting has gone too far. “Donald,” he said into a TV camera on Thursday night, with a jab of his finger, “you’re a snivelling coward, and leave Heidi the hell alone.” His handlers will be hoping that came across as sufficiently muscular and intemperate. After all, some terrible notional things have been done to candidates’ wives in US elections, and a man’s visceral response is vital.
Related: Donald Trump's machismo becomes sexism once he faces Clinton | Lucia Graves
The question widely believed to have sunk 1988 presidential hopeful Michael Dukakis was posed to him in a TV debate. “Governor,” inquired CNN anchor Bernard Shaw, “if Kitty Dukakis were raped and murdered, would you favour an irrevocable death penalty for the killer?” Dukakis offered an emotionless, policy-based answer.The question widely believed to have sunk 1988 presidential hopeful Michael Dukakis was posed to him in a TV debate. “Governor,” inquired CNN anchor Bernard Shaw, “if Kitty Dukakis were raped and murdered, would you favour an irrevocable death penalty for the killer?” Dukakis offered an emotionless, policy-based answer.
My favourite gloss on this is by my colleague Jonathan Freedland last year. Watching the debate on TV, esteemed New York governor Mario Cuomo demonstrated to his aides the answer Dukakis should have given: “How dare you speak about my wife in that way? You should be ashamed of yourself for dishonouring her like that. But I tell you this. If I caught the man who did those things to my wife, I’d grab him by the neck, rip out his throat and tear him limb from limb.” Then Cuomo modulated his tone. “But this is not about me. This is about the state. And the state has to be better than me. That’s why we have laws.”My favourite gloss on this is by my colleague Jonathan Freedland last year. Watching the debate on TV, esteemed New York governor Mario Cuomo demonstrated to his aides the answer Dukakis should have given: “How dare you speak about my wife in that way? You should be ashamed of yourself for dishonouring her like that. But I tell you this. If I caught the man who did those things to my wife, I’d grab him by the neck, rip out his throat and tear him limb from limb.” Then Cuomo modulated his tone. “But this is not about me. This is about the state. And the state has to be better than me. That’s why we have laws.”
Spool forward to 2016 and aspects of this seem somewhat antiquated. The state is something you’ve devoted much time to shutting down, if you’re Cruz, or which should be remade in your own image, if you’re Trump. But as Cuomo’s speechwriter related, he firmly believed “there is a subtext of male violence” in politics. And that bit does seem to endure. Perhaps the most troubling thing is that it has filtered right down the discourse.Spool forward to 2016 and aspects of this seem somewhat antiquated. The state is something you’ve devoted much time to shutting down, if you’re Cruz, or which should be remade in your own image, if you’re Trump. But as Cuomo’s speechwriter related, he firmly believed “there is a subtext of male violence” in politics. And that bit does seem to endure. Perhaps the most troubling thing is that it has filtered right down the discourse.
People across the spectrum feel that politics is something done to them, and horribly so. Trump may have recently opined that Hillary “got schlonged” by Obama in 2008. But it was an ordinary Democrat supporter who told the BBC’s Justin Webb on the day of Hillary’s defeat: “I was raped as a teenager but I have never felt as violated as I do today.”People across the spectrum feel that politics is something done to them, and horribly so. Trump may have recently opined that Hillary “got schlonged” by Obama in 2008. But it was an ordinary Democrat supporter who told the BBC’s Justin Webb on the day of Hillary’s defeat: “I was raped as a teenager but I have never felt as violated as I do today.”