Harris says Trump 'devalues' women's ability to make their own choices

PHOENIX — Vice President Kamala Harris said Thursday that former President Donald Trump's remarks this week about protecting women whether they "like it or not" is another sign of how he "devalues" women.

"His latest comment is just the most recent in a series of examples that we have seen from him in his words and deeds about how he devalues the ability of women to have the choice and the freedom to make decisions about their own body," Harris said in an exclusive interview.

Harris also argued that most Americans "believe that women are intelligent enough and should have and be respected for their agency to make decisions for themselves about what is in their best interest," rather than the government's or Trump's "telling them what to do."

The Trump campaign did not immediately comment on Harris’ remarks.

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Trump said Wednesday that his "people" had instructed him not to say he wanted to "protect the women."

"I said, ‘Well, I’m going to do it, whether the women like it or not.' I’m going to protect them," Trump said at his rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

In an interview on NBC News' "Meet the Press NOW," Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt was asked whether she can see how Trump’s comments about doing something “whether the women like it or not” might make women uncomfortable.

“No, I can’t. Because if you look at the full context of President Trump’s remarks, he brought this up in the context of illegal immigration and protecting women from the illegal immigrant criminals,” Leavitt said Thursday.

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Trump campaign press secretary talks about the former president's comments on protecting women

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Billionaire and Harris surrogate Mark Cuban also weighed in on Trump’s comment about women during an interview Thursday on ABC's “The View.”

“Donald Trump, you’ve never seen him around strong, intelligent women ever. It’s just that simple, they’re intimidating to him. He doesn’t like to be challenged by them,” Cuban said.

After his remark sparked criticism, including from some Republican lawmakers, Cuban said in a post on X that he knows “many strong, intelligent women voting for Trump,” and that he knows the former president has “worked with strong intelligent women.”

Trump in turn blasted Cuban’s initial remarks. “He is very wrong, I surround myself with the strongest of women,” Trump said in a post on X before delivering a series of insults directed at Cuban.

“All strong women, and women in general, should be very angry about this weak man’s statement,” Trump added.

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In a Thursday statement responding to an NBC News question about Harris saying that Trump “devalues” women, Leavitt pivoted to Cuban's remarks.

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“Why does she take issue with President Trump wanting to protect women, men, and children from migrant crime and foreign adversaries, and why won’t she denounce these comments from her top surrogate?" Leavitt said.

Harris on Thursday also talked about President Joe Biden's "garbage" remark this week, when he appeared to criticize either Trump supporters or a comedian who delivered racist jokes at Trump’s rally in New York. She reiterated that she does not believe "that we should ever criticize people based on who they vote for."

In addressing Biden's comments, Harris pointed to Trump's rhetoric about "the enemy from within" and comparing the U.S. to a "garbage can."

"He does not understand that most people are exhausted with his rhetoric, exhausted with that approach, exhausted with an approach that Donald Trump has that's trying to divide our country and have Americans point fingers at each other," she said. "They're done with it, and they're ready to turn the page."

Harris spoke to NBC News before her rally in Phoenix. Her next campaign stops Thursday were in Nevada, where she was to hold rallies in Reno and Las Vegas.

Polling indicates a neck-and-neck presidential race less than a week before Election Day.

Asked what she thinks her late mother would say to her in the final days before the election, Harris smiled.

"'Just go beat him,'" she said, laughing. "That's probably what she'd say. Yeah, that's my mother."

Yamiche Alcindor reported from Phoenix and Megan Lebowitz from Washington.