While giving the commencement address at Suffolk University, Sen. Elizabeth Warren made a side comment mocking Donald Trump’s high unfavorability ratings among women.
“By the way, President McKenna, how’s this speech polling so far?” she asked, referencing the university’s polling facilities. “Higher or lower than Donald Trump’s unfavorable numbers with women?”
According to a recent Fox News poll, 63 percent of women have an unfavorable opinion of Trump. Many have identified his unpopularity among women as a key vulnerability in his campaign.
Over the past few months, Warren has been a vocal critic of Trump for, among other issues, statements she identifies as sexist. In early May, she tweeted, “We get it, @realDonaldTrump: When a woman stands up to you, you’re going to call her a basket case. Hormonal. Ugly.” She also claimed that he built his campaign on “racism, sexism, and xenophobia.”
The issue of sexism holds personal relevance for Warren, the first female senator of Massachusetts. In her commencement speech, she explained how her mother discouraged her from attending college, saying that she should instead “find a nice man to marry and have him take care of [her].” After Warren graduated law school, employers would not hire her due to her pregnancy. She stayed at home with her children for several years and then worked as a law professor for several decades, until Sen. Harry Reid asked her to chair the Congressional Oversight Panel during the 2008 financial crisis. In 2012, she ran a successful Senate campaign against Republican Scott Brown, becoming one of 20 female senators serving in the 114th Congress.
Warren’s comment about Trump’s unfavorability comes at a time when both presidential candidates have reason to be concerned about their polling with the opposite gender. While, as mentioned, 63 percent of women have an unfavorable opinion of Trump, the same poll shows that 71 percent of men have an unfavorable opinion of Hillary Clinton.