There are a lot of things we really, really don’t like about the new resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but even if we just focus on the environment and our food system, it’s enough to bring us to tears. But crying gets us nowhere – staying informed does. With that in mind, here are five ways you might not have realized that the Trump administration is poised to muck up the environment and our food system.

1. The Wall will emit more CO2 than 700,000 homes.

Aside from just being a poor diplomatic decision and an even worse financial one, Trump’s infamous wall is a disaster as far as the environment is concerned.

A 1,000-mile wall 50 feet tall, 15 feet underground, and one-foot thick would require approximately 9.7 million cubic meters of concrete and 2.3 billion kilograms of steel to build, according to Technology Review.

With about 380 kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions for every cubic meter of concrete poured, according to the Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment at the University of Bath, this wall is not only going to cost us $40 billion and our relationship with Mexico (and, let’s face it, most of the free world), but also emit upwards of 7 million metric tons of CO2 — the same as more than 700,000 homes, 16 billion barrels of oil, or two entire coal-fueled power plants in a year.

2. The Wall will harm endangered species.

A report last year based on U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service data showed that the construction of the border wall could have a negative impact on “111 endangered species, 108 species of migratory birds, four wildlife refuges and fish hatcheries, and an unknown number of protected wetlands.”

Dan Millis of the Sierra Club’s Borderlands Project called the wall “an act of self-sabotage,” noting that wildlife migrations have already been blocked with the current walls and fences that exist along the border.

“At the border wall, people have found large mammals confounded and not knowing what to do,” Jesse Lasky, an assistant professor of biology at Penn State University, told the Washington Post, citing deer, mountain lions, jaguar, and ocelots as just some of these animals. A wall cutting off these isolated populations could keep them from mating effectively and sustainably, according to Lasky.

And this isn’t just conjecture: in Slovenia, where 111 miles of barbed-wire fence have been erected along the border with Croatia over the course of the past few years, “a slew of mangled animal carcasses—especially deer—have been found,” according to The Washington Post.

Bringing these issues to the attention of the Trump administration is unlikely to have positive effects, according to Cassandra Carmichael, Executive Director of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment, who notes that Ryan Zinke, Trump’s nominee for Interior Secretary, has led federal efforts to remove or reduce protections for endangered species including wolves and lynx.

Seeing as congressional Republicans have already been attacking the Endangered Species Act in the past few years, the advent of the Trump administration doesn’t bode well for endangered species.

3. Climate change science is taking a major hit.

Soon after the Trump administration’s decision to put a temporary hold on the release of work by EPA scientists, activists claimed that climate science was in danger of being distorted — and they weren’t crying wolf. The White House website’s climate section has been removed, and a webpage entitled “Climate Change Facts: Answers to Common Questions” was taken off the EPA website.

In addition, Trump’s aides have already told Bloomberg that they plan to cancel Obama’s executive order to federal agencies to take climate change into account during formal environmental reviews.

Top it all off with the fact that Scott Pruitt, Trump’s choice to run the EPA, is not only on the oil and gas industry payroll but also continues to waver over whether “scientists continue to disagree about the degree and extent of global warming and its connections to the actions of mankind” (just a hint… 97 percent of them don’t), and one thing is clear: climate change will not be one of the top focuses of the Trump administration.

“There is a fear in the entire U.S. science community and, frankly, internationally too,” Christine McEntee, executive director of the American Geophysical Union, told to the Guardian with regards to Trump’s views on climate change. “People fear retribution over their work. There’s a feeling that climate scientists are being targeted.”

4. The National Parks may turn into sources for fossil fuel.

The National Parks may also be taking a hit under the new Trump administration, as one of the new additions to the White House website suggests: the “America First Energy Plan” will push for more drilling of America’s “estimated $50 trillion in untapped shale, oil, and natural gas reserves, especially those on federal lands.”

Tensions are increasing between the National Park Service and the Trump administration. The administration forbade the Service from tweeting after the National Park Service retweeted messages negatively comparing the crowd sizes between the 2017 and 2009 inaugurations. (Badlands National Park defied the rule soon after by tweeting about ecological issues such as climate change.)

“That Trump’s first orders include suppression of information about the environment and prohibiting scientists and parks employees to speak suggests he sees America as little more than territory to strip down for parts,” explains the Guardian.

5. Advances made for food security under the Obamas may dissolve.

One major legacy of the Obama era – specifically the Michelle Obama era – is the advancement of food security policies. But her legacy might not survive the next four years: the Trump administration is expected to confront what the President calls “burdensome new rules” on food, stripping back regulations put into place during the Obama era.

Experts expect regulations concerning school lunches, the SNAP food stamps program, and even standards controlled by the FDA to be reduced under the Trump administration. Trump himself previously called for “a massive reduction in the country’s regulatory standards for foods,” according to Food and Wine, and even suggested he would eliminate “the FDA food police,” which he criticized for “inspection overkill.”

“The intrusive and expensive federal mandates on food options and menu labeling should be ended as soon as possible by a Republican Congress,” the GOP stated in its 2016 platform, directly opposing the mandatory labeling of genetically modified foods rule signed into law by Obama.

“We have a sense of (Trump’s) personal eating habits, but not his view of food policy,” said Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington. “But given his anti-regulatory, anti-science rhetoric, we’re on high alert.”

Frankly, we all should be.

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Many Americans feel exhausted this week. After all, they’ve spent the past year trying to denounce President Elect Trump’s cruel words and actions against human rights, and for what? More heartache? More gut-wrenching work?

Well, yeah.

For years—decades—social warriors and activists have fought, and fought, and fought some more for equal rights, pay… You name it, they’ve fought for it. Unsurprisingly—and disappointingly—every longtime and modern social warrior found out in 2016 that the fight for a good, just world is far from over.

Now, I’m going to frame this as a good thing.

Bear with me…

It gets bad before it gets better

When Barack Obama was elected president in 2008 and sworn in in 2009, there were a lot of Americans—ahem, white Americans—who thought racism was yesterday’s news. Ah, ha-ha. It’s almost funny how ignorant many of us were.

Similar to the post-racial America myth, in 2009, many Americans also thought that women were seen as equal to men. That reality was shattered every time national news reported on the wage gap. And we also discovered that many people still think women are asking for it—it being rape—whenever they get drunk, go on a date, wear skimpy clothing… The list goes one.

And let’s not forget LGBTQ rights! When president Obama’s views on same-sex marriage evolved, many of us thought that everyone else in America evolved, too! That dream was quickly squashed when states proposed bathroom bills to keep trans-people out of the “opposite” sex’s restroom.

Lastly, the painful, ugly, sexist and racist 2016 presidential election. President elect Donald Trump told America he has grabbed women by the pussy, assumes many Mexicans are rapists and is happy he and Putin have a positive relationship. All of this, plus plenty more news, didn’t influence enough Americans that Trump was a poor choice for president.

Here’s the better

While all the previously mentioned stuff is quite upsetting and disturbing, it proves something: America is far from great and we’ve got a lot of work to do. Work we may not have realized needed to be done if Hillary Clinton had won the presidential election.

Yeah, my point of view isn’t exactly cheery and it sure won’t help any of us feel any less exhausted, but at least we all know that this country is facing some deep issues. So, it’s time to suit up, raise your fist and fight the good fight.

This is our country. Let’s fix it and make certain we’re wide awake this Friday morning… Then take a long nap on Sunday.

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For millions of Americans still in shock over Donald Trump winning the Presidential election last week, fasten your seat belts, because there’s plenty more where that came from. Case in point: Myron Ebell, Trump’s climate change denier pick to head up the Environmental Protection Agency transition.

There’s still much to be ironed out for the forthcoming Trump administration, but it’s important to know what’s at stake, not only for our country, but the planet as well.

Here’s what you need to know about Myron Ebell.

1. Ebell is the director of the Center for Energy and Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which, among other things, runs the  website, SafeChemicalPolicy.org, that, according to Tom Philpott at Mother Jones, “exists to downplay the health and ecological impacts of chemicals.”

2. The Competitive Enterprise Institute is largely funded by the coal industry, which would mean good news for coal producers under an Ebell-led EPA and bad news for the environmental policy, the Clean Power Plan, that regulates electricity producers, including coal. Ebell has even gone so far as to call the Clean Power Plan “illegal.”

3. Ebell’s beliefs (or lack thereof when it comes to climate change) have him so vilified, he was featured on a poster plastered around Paris during the UN climate talks last year, naming him one of seven “climate criminals”responsible for destroying our future.

4. Ebell is also the head of the Cooler Heads Coalition, a group “focused on dispelling the myths of global warming by exposing flawed economic, scientific, and risk analysis.”

5. According to the New York Times, Ebell “frequently mocks climate leaders like Al Gore,” and has called the movement the “forces of darkness” because “they want to turn off the lights all over the world.” That’s right, turn off all the lights?!

6. Ebell worked with a Republican congressman from Arizona, John Shadegg, in an effort to retool the Endangered Species Act—not to further protect threatened and endangered plants and animals—but to benefit property owners instead. In other words, to give them free reign to put endangered species in jeopardy for the sake of profits.

7. He’s not a fan of bees, either. According to Mother Jones, Ebell’s Competitive Enterprise Institute refutes the mounting data pointing to neonicotinoid pesticides as having a devastating effect on bee populations around the world. “CEI completely denies any harm to bees from the chemicals and rejects any role for government action in protecting bees,” notes Philpott.

8. Even Pope Francis is not safe from Ebell’s criticism. Ebell said of the Pope’s encyclical on climate change that it’s “scientifically ill informed, economically illiterate, intellectually incoherent and morally obtuse,” adding that “It is also theologically suspect, and large parts of it are leftist drivel.”

9. But perhaps most startling is Ebell’s general misconception about climate change. According to the Huffington Post, in 2006, Ebell penned an opinion piece, titled “Love Global Warming,” where he promoted the “benefits” of a changing climate. “Yes, rising sea levels, if they happen, would be bad for a lot of people. But a warming trend would be good for other people,” he wrote.

Find Jill on Twitter and Instagram

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Retailers have turned Donald Trump’s “nasty woman” comment into tangible pieces of merchandise that hold a surprisingly empowering place in presidential debate history.

Donald Trump once again proved that making it through a 90-minute debate without looking like a complete douchebag is akin to spitting into the wind, where the stupid rhetoric he spews is only going to come back and smack him. Right.In.The.Face.

During the third and final presidential debate, Trump initially proclaimed that no one respected women more than him, only to go on to call opponent Hillary Clinton, “such a nasty woman.” (Queue the horrified gasps and looks of utter disbelief.)

As soon as Americans collected their jaws off the floor, and regained their composure, they did what this country does best. This condescending and defamatory vitriol was turned from the most tart, lip-pursing lemon you’ve ever tasted, into the sweetest, go-f*ck-yourself glass of lemonade.

Aaaah, so refreshing.

“Nasty woman,” a blow that Trump spouted out in his signature careless manner, has now become fodder for the masses, and pure motivational gold for female voters. As if you needed any before this happened.

Capitalizing on his cantankerous remarks, retailers have made it possible for you to wear this message like a badge of honor — because, let’s be real, that’s exactly what it is. Whether you choose to wear a t-shirt to the polls for early voting, or decide to incorporate the decor at home for the celebratory party you throw after Clinton smokes his ass, this is merchandise worth springing for. Girl, it’s time to treat yo self!

For all of the nasty women, otherwise known as the strong, beautiful females (yes, all of you) who not only get shit done, but who also vote, and secretly plot to take over the world in their spare time — this is for you.

1. T-Shirt

You watched, you cringed, now buy the t-shirt. Nasty Woman + Co. pioneered the #NastyWoman merchandise movement just one day after the debate, and offer #DumpTrump supporters the opportunity to purchase a stylish tee emblazoned with the message. Whether you want to be the original nasty woman, a nasty woman who gets shit done, or a nasty woman who votes, they’ve got your bases covered. The best part? Proceeds, aside from the cost of making, printing, and packing and shipping the shirts, go to Planned Parenthood (20k raised so far) and RAINN (5k raised so far).  

2. Button

Accessorize any outfit with a dash of nasty woman attitude with this wear-anywhere button. It’s cute, it’s affordable, and 50 percent of the proceeds from this purchase will be donated to Planned Parenthood. Here’s an idea — buy a bunch for your girlfriends and make a day of voting together. Definite #squadgoals.

3. Wall Art

If you need a reminder that you’re a nasty woman, then hang this print in your home office, or even your cubicle. Use it as inspiration for those times when you might be feeling unsure, or need that extra confidence booster. It’s a great way to remember that women can do anything, even in the face of adversity.

4. Pillowcases

If you ask me, there couldn’t be a better way to bring politics into the bedroom, especially if you’re nasty. Whether you relate this to your love life, or the words of affirmation you desire before drifting off to sleep, it just goes to show that no place is off limits when it comes to getting what you want.

5. Mug

Everyone knows that nasty women get even more shit done after their morning cup of coffee or tea. Remember to slay the day each and every morning by pouring your favorite caffeinated brew into a mug just like this one.

6. Embroidery

Dotted with the perfect amount of patriotism, this red, white, and blue piece of embroidered empowerment would be a welcome piece of decor in any feminist’s house. Display it alone, or next to your homemade dartboard featuring Donald Trump’s face. Bullseye!

7. Tank

Sweat it out at the gym, and turn heads at the same time in this tank that shows the boys who’s really next in line for becoming leader of the free world. This is the perfect motivational tool for pumping iron in the mirror, or simply stepping out for some errands in your athleisure.

The message that’s been spun from this blunder is a great one, don’t get me wrong, but even more important than buying the merch is getting your nasty self down to the voting polls. I’ve already cast mine, and suggest you do the same. As always, let us know what you think of this #nastywoman loot on the EcoSalon Facebook page!

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Image of Mug via Aceti Design Co.

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ColumnIt’s been quite the week for Donald Trump.

Since the first live presidential debate, the Republican presidential candidate has taken part in a series of incidents that are bizarre—even for him—and not surprisingly, hate-filled and sexist.

Miss Piggy…

On Monday night, Hillary Clinton mentioned the name of a former Miss Universe. Clinton explained that after Alicia Machado won Trump’s Miss Universe beauty pageant in 1996, Trump talked about how he was displeased that she won because she gained weight.

Clinton also mentioned that Trump called Machado ‘Miss Piggy’ and ‘Miss Housekeeping’ —because she had gained weight and is Latina. Trump was flustered when Clinton mentioned Machado, but managed not to go off the deep end during the debate.

Well, since that debate, Trump has gone off the deep end and has burrowed himself into the center of the Earth.

Directly following the debate, Trump told morning newscasters on Fox and Friends that Machado was the worst Miss Universe “we ever had” and said he called her fat because she was fat… He also said Machado had an attitude problem and she was no Mother Teresa.

Now, you may be thinking, “that sure doesn’t sound presidential,” and no, it does not. But that hasn’t stopped the candidate. Since that Tuesday morning interview, Trump has continued discussing the incident in an incredibly disturbing manner.

Watch that sex tape…

Early—we’re talking 5 a.m. eastern on Thursday morning—Trump started tweeting about Machado. The following are just a few things he wrote:

“Wow, Crooked Hillary was duped and used by my worst Miss U. Hillary floated her as an ‘angel’ without checking her past, which is terrible!”

“Using Alicia M in the debate as a paragon of virtue just shows that Crooked Hillary suffers from BAD JUDGEMENT! Hillary was set up by a con.”

“Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting (check out sex tape and past) Alicia M become a U.S. citizen so she could use her in the debate?”

Yes, a presidential candidate actually told the U.S. public to “check out a sex tape.”

Since those tweets, we’ve learned Machado never appeared in porn, but has posed topless. Also, who cares? She appeared on film performing intimate acts on a reality show. And, yes, she was accused of complicity in an attempted murder in Venezuela—that we kind of care about. But does any of that justify Trump’s name-calling? No. No it does not.

That rally…

On Sunday morning, Trump went to a rally in Pennsylvania to get in front of The New York Times story that exposed his 1995 partial tax return. The Times piece “indicated he may not have paid federal income taxes for more than 10 years,” Time reports.

Trump covered his talking points—points to help him appeal to millennials—but also took a considerable amount of time rambling about Clinton.

“It took Trump nearly 25 minutes to read the brief statement because he kept going off on one angry tangent after another—ignoring his teleprompters and accusing Clinton of not being loyal to her husband, imitating her buckling at a memorial service last month, suggesting that she is crazy and saying she should be in prison,” The Washington Post reports.

“He urged his mostly white crowd of supporters to go to polling places in certain areas on Election Day to watch the voters there. He also repeatedly complained about having a bum mic at the first presidential debate and wondered if he should have done another season of ‘The Apprentice.’”

All of the above? It just solidifies that Trump hates women (and minorities, and women again), but this piece is about sexism—we’ll tackle that problem (and his thoughts on PTSD) another day.

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Image of Donald Trump via Shutterstock, Joe Seer 

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Thank goodness for Rachel Maddow. She reminded us of this wonderful “Sesame Street” bit that aired in the mid-00s.

Yes, that’s a Muppet Donald Trump. Orange hair and all. Watch it and give yourself a laugh.

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Did you know that someone beside Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, and Donald Trump is running for president?

Samantha Bee interviewed Gary Johnson, the other guy, this week on “Full Frontal.” They had quite the talk…

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ColumnAre you a white male? Well, you’ve had a wonderful 2016 so far! If this year has proved anything, it’s that you can rape, be openly racist and sexist, AND beat women without any repercussions.

Yeah, we know—#NotAllWhiteMen—but after these past few weeks, y’all have to understand my frustration. Let’s quickly recap all the stuff white men have got away with/received a free pass for, in, oh, the past 15 days or so.

Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp is a well-known actor. He also happens to be an alleged domestic abuser.

Over the past few weeks, Amber Heard, Depp’s soon-to-be-ex-wife, has been raked through the Internet coals for accusing Depp of domestic abuse.

According to Heard, Depp had been abusive throughout their entire marriage. She filed for divorce on May 23 because of the abuse. On May 27, a judge granted Heard’s request for a restraining order against Depp.

Since this revelation, plenty of people have given their two cents about the incident, saying things like, “well, she looks OK to me,” aka, “her bruises weren’t that bad/visible, so it must be NBD.” Obviously, this is complete crap, so, iO Tillett Wright, an artist and one of Heard’s friends, discussed this all-too-common case of public disbelief on Twitter by asking:

“How much evidence does a woman need to present?!”

“The culture of victim blaming makes me sick.”

We agree, Wright. We agree.

(Note: We’re aware Heard was accused of domestic abuse in 2009. And we do not excuse her poor actions in this case. However, if she was abused by Depp, she deserves justice, too.)

Brock Turner (the Stanford rapist)

As you know, Brock Turner, who should always and forever be known as the Stanford rapist, only got six months in prison for raping an unconscious woman behind a dumpster.

Since this light conviction, the victim in the case has released a moving letter depicting how much the event has affected, and will continue to affect her life.

In response, Dan Turner, Rape-y McRape-Face’s father released a letter saying his son shouldn’t have to pay his whole life for a mere “20 minutes of action…”

And the icing on the rotten rape cake? Turner’s friend recently wrote the judge in the case, saying that “I don’t think it’s fair to base the fate of the next ten + years of his life on the decision of a girl who doesn’t remember anything but the amount she drank to press charges against him.”

This is why cathartic things like rape revenge movies exist, people.

Now, the thing is, I’m not surprised by Turner’s father’s letter or his friend’s letter, either. Why? Because of rape culture!

Men and women whose brains have been infected with this virus-like culture walk through the world spewing ignorant opinions about how “women shouldn’t drink too much,” or that “women shouldn’t walk alone at night,” when in reality, rape is the rapist’s fault. That’s it! Case closed. Every. Time.

But when these rape culture zombies get on their soapboxes, they infect other ignorant people with their false truths, which leads to the continuation of rape culture.

Now, we all know that white men aren’t the only people getting away with rape in the world, but it does seem like this group of the population—specifically jocks who are high school to college-aged—tend to disproportionally get away with this sickening, illegal behavior.

Don’t believe that rape culture is a toxic cloud that’s perpetually hanging over college sports? Here’s some clear proof it does:

“In an online survey about sexual activity and attitudes, more than half the men who played an intramural or intercollegiate sport reported coercing a partner into sex,” The Washington Post reports.

“Of the sexually coercive behaviors listed on the survey, including ‘I used threats to make my partner have oral or anal sex,’ almost all met the legal definition of rape. A total of 379 male undergraduates from a single large, public, Division I university in the Southeast volunteered to take the online survey. Of that total, 159 were members of recreational, or club, sports teams; 29 were intercollegiate athletes; and 191 were non-athletes. Having to rely on subjects from only one institution was an unavoidable limitation of the research, according to the scientists.”

Donald Trump

He’s called Mexicans rapists, wants to ban Muslims from entering the United States, thinks women have it good because of the “woman card,” AND most recently said a Mexican-American judge wasn’t fit to serve on the Trump University case because of his heritage. BUT—Trump’s still the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

So, do you now think that possibly, just maybe, white men rarely get blamed for their bad behavior? Yeah, it’s not surprising, but it sure is bothersome that still, after all these years, women and minorities continue to get silenced and side-lined thanks to institutional sexism and racism.

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Samantha Bee just got real about why evangelicals are stuck with Donald Trump as their presumptive presidential nominee.

Basically, they dug their own, pseudo-religious, totally racist graves. Watch the video below to get the scoop.

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ColumnPerhaps you’ve heard about a little story that recently ran in the New York Times about how Donald Trump has (mis)treated women over the years. While that isn’t surprising, it sure is disturbing that this man is now the presumptive Republican nominee for president.

So, just how bad are some of the accusations against Trump? Well, they are at least just as bad as everything else he has said to the press and his supporters this year.

To get a good look at how Trump has treated women in private, the Times interviewed dozens of women who worked with, or for, Trump, women who dated him or knew him socially, and women and men who knew him since he was a teen. “In all, more than 50 interviews were conducted over the course of six weeks,” the Times reports.

Yeah, they went deep.

The dirt on Trump

Through its extensive research, the Times discovered that Trump has cultivated his “ladies’ man” status since military school. Through the years, his desire to be surrounded by women morphed into a desire to control women— a trait Trump most likely learned from his father, Fred Trump, who was, apparently, quite vocal about his traditional views on gender. And it’s that thought process that has probably caused Trump to do a lot of inappropriate things in many professional settings. Here’s just one example from the Times piece:

“He kissed me directly on the lips,” Temple Taggart, 1997 Miss Utah USA, says. “I thought, ‘Oh my God, gross.’ He was married to Marla Maples at the time. I think there were a few other girls that he kissed on the mouth. I was like ‘Wow, that’s inappropriate.’”

No shit.

Now, when the Times article broke, Trump swore he would sue the paper because of the piece, saying it was full of lies. But just like everything Trump says, he took it back and decided that all he really needs is an apology, which he most likely will never get because the Times didn’t do anything wrong. Trump has helped some women in their careers while also commenting on their physical appearance. A gross, familiar cocktail of sexism that many women are used to choking down. But just because we’re used to it doesn’t mean it’s right.

What’s up with his supporters?

So, why don’t these stories change Trump’s supporters’ opinions? Sure, Trump is quite popular with racists and white males who feel cozy thinking that they are superior to women and all minorities who reside in America. But Trump also has a lot of female supporters. I truly can not wrap my mind around how women can approve of a candidate who mocks women for menstruating, refers to his daughter as “sexy,” and who has been accused of rape.

Trump is not good for America and he definitely isn’t good for women. Hell, just look at the track record of a few of the judges—Pryor and Sykes—Trump said he would potentially nominate to the Supreme Court.

So, no matter what he says or how much he tries to walk back his sexist comments, he will always and forever be a misogynist.

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