"Whether the women like it or not": Trump's words fan the GOP's gender gap

• Women far outpaced men in early voting in states where results are reported by gender, according to data from the University of Florida's Election Lab.
• If early voting statistics are any indication, there could be a dramatic gender gap on display in exit polls.

State of play: At a rally in the final days of the race, Trump said his "people" told him it was "inappropriate" to say he wanted to "protect the women of our country."

• He continued, "I'm going to do it whether the women like it or not; I'm going to protect them."
• The language harkens back to his previous claim that women won't be "thinking about abortion" if he's elected, framing himself as a "protector" of American women.
• While Trump has ostensibly softened his approach on abortion — saying he would veto a national ban after waffling — he has also bragged about nominating the Supreme Court justices who helped to overturn Roe v. Wade.

The big picture: The GOP has struggled to court women voters since overturning Roe v. Wade with both Trump and running mate JD Vance criticized for the way they talk about women — the former president, in particular, often employing sexist, crude language.

• Republicans like Nikki Haley have warned the party's approach and language are alienating large blocs of voters.
• Haley said the "bromance and this masculinity stuff" on display at Trump's Madison Square Garden rally could "make women uncomfortable."
• "That is not the way to win women. That is not the way to win people who are concerned about Trump's style," she said.

Flashback: Sexual controversies have followed Trump since 2016 when video resurfaced of him describing groping women in incredibly vulgar language in an Access Hollywood tape.

• Trump has also been found liable for the sexual abuse of writer E. Jean Carroll. He denied that accusation and mocked Carroll by saying, "she would not have been the chosen one."
• Despite the backlash, he has continued to make demeaning and sexist comments about Vice President Harris and other women while denying all accusations of assault.

Between the lines: The Harris-Walz campaign has seized on Trump's comments to appeal directly to women, particularly moderate suburban voters, by emphasizing a message of choice: both over their bodily autonomy and their decisions in the voting booth.

• Harris told reporters Thursday that Trump's remark is "very offensive to women in terms of not understanding their agency, their authority, their right, and their ability to make decisions about their own lives."

The other side: Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said in a statement: "Why does Kamala Harris take issue with President Trump wanting to protect women, men, and children from migrant crime and foreign adversaries?"

The intrigue: Tampon boxes, bathroom mirrors and cereal boxes have become the unlikely messaging boards for a disconnected effort to remind women in the U.S. that their votes are private.

• Outside groups like the Lincoln Project have targeted Trump's poor performance with women in ads. In one, husbands celebrated casting their votes for Trump, while the wives, in secret, fill in their ballots for Harris.
• "Your vote is your secret," the advertisement ends. "He'll never know."
• In a similar ad released by Vote Common Good, narrator Julia Roberts says, "In the one place in America where women still have a right to choose, you can vote any way you want, and no one will ever know."

Friction point: Backlash to the ads from right-wing commentators only emphasizes the GOP's difficulty communicating with women voters.

• Fox host Jesse Waters compared his wife voting for Harris to "having an affair," saying that would be "D Day."
• Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk said the ad encourages women "to lie to their husbands," calling it "so repulsive" and "so gross."
• Speaking to Megyn Kelly, Kirk lamented the ads that he said depicted "a wife coming in with her sweet husband who probably works his tail off to make sure she can go and have a nice life."

What we're watching: In a recent CBS/YouGov poll of likely voters, 55% of women polled said they were backing Harris.

• Among suburban women (a critical bloc in Biden's 2020 victory), Harris holds a 19-point lead over Trump, according to a recent ABC News/Ipsos poll.

Go deeper: America's youngest voters become major election liars

Editor's note: This story has been updated with a statement from the Trump campaign.