Clinton, Not Trump, Playing 'Woman Card,' Says Trump Adviser

ByADRIENNE SALAZAR ABCNews logo
Monday, May 2, 2016

Donald Trump wasn't criticizing women when he accused Hillary Clinton of playing the "woman card" in order to get elected president, a senior adviser to his campaign said Sunday on ABC's "This Week."

Sarah Huckabee Sanders defended Trump's comments this week in which he said Clinton would receive less support if she was a man and that women don't like her.

"I think he is pointing out something, frankly, Bernie Sanders' campaign has been talking about for months -- that Hillary Clinton's biggest thing that she's running on is the fact that she's a woman," she said. "The person that is playing the woman card is Hillary, not Donald Trump."

Trump made the comments despite Clinton receiving a higher percentage of the vote among female Democrats than he received among female Republicans during five primaries last Tuesday. Huckabee Sanders expressed confidence Trump would win them over.

"At the end of the day, they're going to side with Donald Trump," Huckabee Sanders said.

EMILY's List President Stephanie Schriock disagreed that playing up the fact that she's a woman would hurt Clinton among female voters.

"She does happen to be a woman -- that is true," she said. "But really this campaign has been focused on economic opportunities for women and families in this country on a whole wide breadth of issues."

Trump, meanwhile, has had to fend off criticism for endorsements that may prove problematic with the female demographic. Former boxer Mike Tyson, who was convicted of rape in 1992, recently endorsed him. His endorsement is featured in a new anti-Trump attack ad released by the Trusted Leadership PAC.

According to Huckabee Sanders, though, every endorsement counts this election year.

"Donald Trump is looking for the endorsement and the vote of every American," she said. "I think that's why he's doing so well."

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