Trump Bullying of Clinton Reaches New Low at Final Debate

One of the most important parts of creating psychologically healthy, safe and fair workplaces is learning how to identify and deal with bullies. Last night’s final presidential debate featured a man whose bullying tactics I’ve been writing about for months. In fact, Donald Trump inspired what might well be the shortest chapter in any work of non-fiction in North America—in my new book From Bully to Bull’s-Eye (RCJ Press; January 10, 2017) all I needed was one word in my chapter, “Definition of a Bully” to illustrate what I wanted to get across; that word is: Trump. I’m glad to see women refusing to be intimidated and embracing his latest bullying comment to Secretary Hillary Clinton and making it their own, but calling her “a nasty woman” is classic bullying behavior. 

Photo: KGO-TV

Trump 2005 vs. Today's Workplace

I feel as though a lot has already been said about Donald Trump’s 2005 comments on women, and about his response during last night’s debate. However, one element of this story that I think needs to be emphasized is the fact that the demeaning, horrible comments he made happened in the workplace. He was on that bus to film a segment for NBC to promote The Apprentice, as was Billy Bush. The woman they’re speaking about, Arianne Zucker, is there for work as well. When Trump gets off the bus and grabs the visibly uncomfortable Zucker for a hug-and-kiss greeting – that’s what an inappropriate workplace interaction looks like. Some might call the Trump tape a severe case of workplace sexism, but truly, it’s the sort of thing scores of women have to deal with at work on a daily basis. It’s sickening, yes, but what should be more sickening is the fact that this type of lewd objectification of women is not uncommon in the workplace. It goes without saying that this type of comment should disqualify Trump from the US Presidency, and that women, as Lindy West wrote in the NYT, should grab Republicans “where it hurts” – the ballots. 

Image: Ruth Fremson for NYT via NYT