Ex-Trump Staffer: Campaign Is Sexist

Iowa woman has filed a discrimination complaint
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 1, 2016 12:20 AM CST
Ex-Trump Staffer: Campaign Is Sexist
Marco Rubio shakes hands with Elizabeth Davidson before sitting down to dinner at the Scott County Republican Party Ronald Reagan Dinner on Oct. 28, 2014.   (AP Photo/The Quad City Times, Louis Brems)

Donald Trump is running a sexist campaign, according to a former staffer in Iowa who has filed a discrimination complaint. Elizabeth Mae Davidson says the Trump campaign paid men more than women for doing the same job and wouldn't let women plan or speak at rallies, reports the New York Times. The 26-year-old, who was fired as a field organizer in Davenport on Jan. 14—the day after she was quoted in a Times article on Trump's ground organization—also alleges in her complaint that Trump made a sexist comment to her and another female volunteer at a rally last summer, telling them that with their looks, "you guys could do a lot of damage." Her complaint was filed with the Davenport Civil Rights Commission on Thursday.

Trump tells the Times that his staff have told him Davidson is a disgruntled former employee who did "a terrible job," adding the paper shouldn't be reporting the complaint just before the Iowa caucuses. "A story like this could damage my chances," says Trump, who denies making the remark listed in her complaint. "That is not the worst thing that could be said," he says. "But I never said it. It's not in my vocabulary." Speaking to Bloomberg, Trump says he has heard "some very strange reports about her. She goes around dressing like Melania, my wife." He adds that the story is politically motivated. "This is the New York Times doing a number on the people of Iowa," he says. (More Donald Trump stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X