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Former President Donald Trump said at a rally Wednesday that he would protect American women “whether the women like it or not” — remarks that he cast as paternal but only served as reminders to many of his critics of his history of misogynistic statements and a civil court case that found him liable for sexual abuse.

Speaking near Green Bay, Wisconsin, Trump told the crowd that his advisers had urged him to stop using a well-worn rally line about his desire to protect women, saying they had called it “inappropriate.” In recent months, Trump has boasted on social media and in his speeches that he would protect women in America by making their communities safer and by making sure they won’t “be thinking about abortion,” as he faces increasing backlash for appointing three Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade.

On Wednesday, he delivered similar remarks but added a new twist as he described onstage what he had told his advisers: “I said, well, I’m going to do it whether the women like it or not. I am going to protect them.”

Polls show that Trump is already facing a significant deficit with female voters in his race against Vice President Kamala Harris, the first woman to serve as vice president. Harris has tried to appeal to moderate Republican and independent women, particularly in the suburbs, by talking about her support for abortion rights and casting Trump as divisive and reactionary.

The former president’s remarks Wednesday mean that, for many voters, his closing message is being defined, in part, by racist jokes about Puerto Rico told by a comedian at his rally in New York this week and, now, a striking display of machismo.

Harris quickly sought to respond, writing on the social platform X: “Donald Trump thinks he should get to make decisions about what you do with your body. Whether you like it or not.” Her campaign posted a series of videos on social media emphasizing Trump’s remarks. And it sent out a news release that blared: “In Wisconsin, Trump reminds women how little he values their choices.”

Asked to comment, Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign, did not address Trump’s remarks. But she said the Biden-Harris administration had left women “worse off financially and far less safe than we were four years ago under President Trump.”

“Women deserve a president who will secure our nation’s borders, remove violent criminals from our neighborhoods, and build an economy that helps our families thrive,” she said in a statement.

Over the course of the campaign, Trump and his allies have made a series of misogynistic, sexualized attacks against Harris. In August, Trump used his social media website to amplify a crude remark about her that falsely suggested she had traded sexual favors to help her political career. On Sunday, at his Madison Square Garden rally, one speaker referred to Harris as having “pimp handlers.” And a super political action committee financed by his ally Elon Musk released an ad that called her a “C word,” although the ad eventually revealed that the word was “communist,” rather than the slur for women.

As the gender gap widens between Harris and Trump, even women in his own party have warned that he risks alienating a crucial slice of the electorate. Nikki Haley, who served as Trump’s United Nations ambassador before challenging him in the Republican primaries this year, criticized the recent sexist and crude attacks lodged at Harris during an interview on Fox News on Tuesday, warning that it made women “uncomfortable.”

“That is not the way to win women,” Haley said. “That is not the way to win people who are concerned about Trump’s style.”

“This is not a time for them to get overly masculine with this bromance thing that they’ve got going,” she added. “Fifty-three percent of the electorate are women. Women will vote. They care about how they’re being talked to, and they care about the issues.”

In October during a Harris campaign event in Michigan, former Rep. Liz Cheney, the most prominent Republican to endorse Harris, also pointed to Trump’s crassness, particularly when it came to women, and urged them to vote against him.

“When you think about that level of instability, the level of erratic decision-making, the misogyny, that’s not someone that you can entrust with the power of the Oval Office,” Cheney said.

Trump has been accused by roughly two dozen women of sexual misconduct. In 2016, the “Access Hollywood” tape caught him boasting about grabbing women by the genitals, remarks he later dismissed as “locker room banter.” Writer E. Jean Carroll said he raped her in the dressing room of a Manhattan department store in the 1990s. In civil proceedings, Trump was found liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll, and ordered to pay hefty fines. Trump is appealing the case.

In his attacks on Harris over the course of his rally Wednesday, Trump repeatedly insulted her intelligence — referring to her as a “low IQ individual” and comparing her negatively to Brett Favre, the former NFL quarterback who served as the event’s celebrity guest.

“Kamala Harris is not fit to be president of the United States,” Trump said. “She doesn’t have the intellect, the stamina, or that special quality that real leaders must have to lead. We know what that is. It’s a special quality.” He claimed that Favre had that “special” quality.

Trump then detailed conversations that he claimed he had been having with his staff, who pleaded with him not to make the claim about protecting women.

‘Sir, please don’t say that,” Trump recalled. “‘Why?’ They said, ‘We think it’s, we think it’s very inappropriate for you to say. I say why, I’m president, I want to protect the women of our country. They said — they said, ‘Sir, I just think it’s inappropriate for you to say.’”

Trump then recalled his defiant response.

“So I said, I’m going to defend it and I’m going to protect women,” he said. “I’m not going to let people go into the suburbs or go into places where they live, whether suburbs or cities or farms. We’re going to protect our women at the border. We’re going to protect our women — and also, we’re going to protect our men.”

The thousands who attended the rally were rapt. Trump looked to them for validation.

“Is there any woman in this giant stadium who would like not to be protected?” Trump asked.

The room was nearly silent.

“Is there any woman in this stadium that wants to be protected?” Trump asked.

The crowd roared.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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