Kamala Harris has slammed Donald Trump’s comment that he would protect women whether they “like it or not”, saying it shows the Republican presidential nominee does not understand women’s rights “to make decisions about their own lives, including their own bodies".
“I think it’s offensive to everybody, by the way," the Democratic vice-president said before she set out to spend Thursday campaigning in the western US battleground states of Arizona and Nevada.
She followed up those remarks at her rally in Phoenix: “He simply does not respect the freedom of women or the intelligence of women to know what’s in their own best interests and make decisions accordingly. But we trust women."
The comments by Trump come as he has struggled to connect with female voters and as Harris courts women in both parties with a message centred on freedom.
She is making the pitch that women should be free to make their own decisions about their bodies and that if Trump is elected, more restrictions will follow as both campaigns sprint towards Tuesday's presidential election.
At a rally on Wednesday near Green Bay, Wisconsin, Trump told supporters aides had urged him to stop using the term protector because it was “inappropriate”, but he said, “Well, I’m going to do it whether the women like it or not. I am going to protect them.”
Those comments shaped much of Harris's on Thursday as the two campaigns jostled over the remarks.
Actor and singer Jennifer Lopez introduced Harris at a Las Vegas rally.
Lopez in emotional remarks talked about her background as a Puerto Rican and emphasised the importance of women for the Democratic nominee.
“I believe in the power of women,” Lopez said. “Women have the power to make the difference in this election.”
Lopez also pushed back at comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who at Trump's Madison Square Garden rally called Puerto Rico “a floating island of garbage”.
“You can’t even spell American without Rican,” she said. “This is our country too.”
Trump appointed three of the justices to the US Supreme Court who formed the conservative majority that overturned federal abortion rights.
As the fallout from the 2022 decision spreads, he has taken to claiming he would “protect women” and ensure they wound not be “thinking about abortion”.
Harris tied Trump’s comments to his approach to reproductive rights, but Trump generally speaks more of protecting women from criminals, terrorists and foreign adversaries, in keeping with the bleak picture he paints of a country in decline.
Before Trump headlined a rally in Henderson, Nevada, on Thursday night, he responded to a top Harris campaign surrogate's claim the former president did not surround himself with strong, intelligent women.
Billionaire businessman Mark Cuban said as a guest on ABC's The View that, “You never see” Trump “around strong, intelligent women - ever.”
Trump, on X, posted that Cuban was “very wrong” and lashed out at him as “a fool" and a "MAJOR LOSER".
“All strong women, and women in general, should be very angry about this weak man's statement," Trump's post read.
Trump has given contradictory answers about his position on abortion, sometimes saying women should be punished for having abortions and showcasing the justices he appointed.
During his successful 2016 campaign, he told voters that if he were elected, he would appoint justices to the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v Wade and said he was “pro-life”.
But in recent weeks he has promised to veto a national abortion ban after repeatedly refusing to make such a pledge.
He has said the states should regulate care and said some state laws were “too tough”.
Harris hopes abortion will be a strong motivator for women at the ballot box.
In early voting, 1.2 million more women than men have voted across the seven battleground states, according to data from analytics firm TargetSmart.