Harris rebukes Trump for remarks about protecting women

WASHINGTON

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris rebuked her contender, former President Donald Trump, on Thursday for comments that he would be the protector of women "whether the women like or not."

The Republican nominee made the remarks Wednesday at a rally in the state of Wisconsin.

"My people told me about four weeks ago -- I was saying, No, I want to protect the people. I want to protect the women of our country. I want to protect the women. 'Sir, please don't say that.' ‘Why? They said, 'We think it’s very inappropriate for you to say.' I said, 'Why? I’m president. I want to protect the women of our country," said Trump.

"They said, 'Sir, I just think it’s inappropriate for you to say.' I pay these guys a lot of money. Can you believe it? I said, 'Well, I’m going to do it. Whether the women like it or not, I’m going to protect them,’" said the former president.

Speaking to reporters before heading to the West Coast for the last leg of her campaign, Harris called Trump's remarks "offensive."

"It actually is, I think, 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, including their own bodies," said the Democratic nominee.

"And this is just the latest on a series of reveals by the former president on how he thinks about women and their agency," she said.

"Whether he has said, as he has, that women should be punished for their choices, whether he has talked about his pride is taking away a fundamental right of women, whether it be how he has actually created a situation in America where one in three women lives in a Trump abortion ban state," Harris added.

The exchange comes less than one week before Election Day, as Trump works to narrow the gender gap between himself and the vice president.

Election Day -- including presidential and congressional elections -- is set for Nov. 5.