CLEVELAND — To find the Women Vote Trump, “the official home for women who support Donald Trump,” we went to a beautiful mall in downtown Cleveland, where about 30 Trump supporters and journalists met in a very large, lovely wood-paneled room and made the best of a slightly awkward situation.
“I knew I was going to take a beating and a lashing for supporting Donald Trump,” said Amy Kremer defiantly, from behind a lectern. “From other conservatives! But who are you to judge me?”
Kremer is a co-founder of Women Vote Trump, but is best known for having helped to found the Tea Party movement. Her voice echoed off empty rows of delicate white chairs on spindly gold legs. A lady in a red pantsuit applauded vigorously. “That’s right,” she nodded gently, as Kremer went on.
“People assume that just because Hillary Clinton is a woman that I’m going to support her,” Kremer said, sounding indignant. “That’s an insult to my intelligence. I have the ability to think on my own.”
Kremer was joined by Ann Stone, ex-wife of dirty tricks expert and noted racist Roger Stone, another co-founder of Women Vote Trump.
“He has a track record with women that is amazing,” Stone told the room, specifically the way, she said, Trump treats women in business. “He has always paid women what they’re worth and paid them comparably.” The lady in the red pantsuit nodded, looking a little misty-eyed.
Next, Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee bounded to the stage, where she warned that ISIS “has terrorist cells in all 5o of our states.” (The FBI said last year they are investigating terror suspects “in various stages of radicalizing” in all 50 states.)
Trump, Blackburn said, is the man to beat the terrorists back, and protect women in the process.
“Women see what is happening in their country,” she said, and they’re tired of it, and tired of the Obama economy too: “Women are tired of wage stagnation, not getting a raise and not taking home more.” (Blackburn has said that women “don’t want” equal pay laws.)
Women, Blackburn added, “are the caregivers,” and they’re tired of Medicare and Social Security being endangered, and the way Hillary Clinton is personally endangering them. “Do they trust Hillary Clinton to tell them the truth about these things? Absolutely not. She just throws up her hands and says, ‘What difference does it make?’ It makes a tremendous difference.”
She closed with a warning not to trust the mainstream media: “ABC is All About Clinton,” she said, to laughter. “NBC is Nothin’ But Clinton. CNN is the Clinton News Network. And CBS, God bless CBS, they’re the Clinton BS network.” That one brought the house down, or what there was of it.
Ashley Carter of the Independent Women’s Forum admitted there are some perception problems with Trump. “Even Trump’s most diehard fans have been vividly aware that he has all sorts of issues, comments, and history people may find objectionable,” she said brightly. “He can ruffle some feathers.” Undecideds, she said, find his tone “bullying and unpolished,” but if he could just “moderate” going forward, he could probably win this thing among the ladies. “Undecided women voters see him as having the ability to make real change happen by simply saying what needs to be said.”
Women Vote Trump was careful to note that they’re a diverse movement. Stacey Dash, the newly vocal conservative actress, was supposed to be there, according to the program, but did not attend. An unnamed person from Latinas for Trump was supposed to attend, but also apparently couldn’t make it. But Diamond and Silk were there, two black women who are passionate Trump supporters.
“If y’all noticed, we’re black,” Diamond said, to laughter. “But that doesn’t mean we have to vote Democrat! We came off the Democratic plantation, and voted for whoever we want.”
Clinton, she said with disdain a few moments later, wasn’t a good job creator, not like Trump. “Unless you wanna talk about that one she created for Monica Lewinsky with her husband.”
Trump, she said, was going to clean up the mess that is this country. For women, for everybody, for America: “Are you all on the Trump train?” she shouted, as people quietly began to leave. “Choo choo, baby!”
Image of Rep. Marsha Blackburn by Stassa Edwards; Jezebel Goes to the RNC badge by Jim Cooke