Hours before Trump’s acceptance speech, direct action group CODEPINK danced in the street to call for an end to GOP anti-women rhetoric and policies
Story Transcript
TEXT ON SCREEN: On the last day of the Republican National Convention, the direct action group CODEPINK held an action to speak out against what they call the GOP’s “war on women.” LESLIE HARRIS, CODEPINK MEMBER: This action is to say that we want to stop the war on women. We want to stop the GOP war on women. We want equal rights. We don’t want anybody deciding what we should do with our bodies. We want equal pay for women. And that’s it. We want equality. ANIQA RAIHAN, CODEPINK MEMBER: We’re out here because the GOP, Donald Trump, and Mike Pence have waged a war on women, a war on our bodies and our rights, I mean, a war on maternity leave and all sorts of things. And so we’re here to spread some peace and some joy CODEPINK PROTESTER 1 (0:45): Mike Pence, sure, you can have it all, but your daycare kids get the short end of the emotional stick. CODEPINK PROTESTER 2 (0:54): Boo! It’s time to support paid maternity leave. RAIHAN: Mike Pence has waged a personal war against women and our ability to control our own bodies. He says that abortion is worse than genocide and that women will pretend to be raped just to get off work. Donald Trump has said awful things about women bleeding out of their wherever. And he’s called so many female journalist professionals bimbos and ugly and unprofessional. It’s really a disgrace. CODEPINK PROTESTER 2 (1:22): Donald Trump, “I mean, we could say politically correct that look doesn’t matter, but the look obviously matters,” Trump says to a female reporter. “Like, you wouldn’t have your job if you weren’t beautiful.” PROTESTERS: Shame! FRANKIE SUSANY, TRUMP SUPPORTER: And CODEPINK has always been traditionally antiwar. That’s what they’re known for more than the war on women. It’s antiwar. So I have a dual thing with them. In one way, they’re supporting Hillary. The second is the antiwar, which there they’re probably confused, because for the first time in our lifetimes you have the Democrat candidate is the war hawk. CODEPINK PROTESTER: [incompr.] misogyny. HECKLER: Hillary is a criminal! CODEPINK PROTESTER: We don’t like Hillary either!
REPORTER: Are you supporting Hillary Clinton? HARRIS: No.
CODIE EVANS, CODEPINK COFOUNDER: Well, so CODEPINK is a feminist organization, and feminism is about equality for all. And Hillary’s pretty bad on that issue. She’s chummy with Wall Street. And she’s a warmonger. I mean, CODEPink has been after Hillary Clinton since we started. She was a vote for war. We went to Iraq and we came back. We told her what we saw and how horrific war would be and what it would do, and she didn’t care. She flippantly said, oh, well, I’m protecting the people of New York.
REPORTER: So they’ve actually told me that they’re not supporting Hillary Clinton for president. SUSANY: Then that would make more sense.
EVANS: Even though we can not agree with Hillary on her issues of war, when you watch the attack on Hillary, it’s a war on a woman. I mean, they’re clearly–they wouldn’t do that to a man. We have been out in the streets. And everyone feels like they can treat us any way they want. They can be misogynist and cruel and hateful. I mean, we’re standing right now in front of a T-shirt vendor whose T-shirts says, “Hillary sucks but not like Monica.” SUSANY: Well, I tell them to calm down. I mean, people are making shirts up to make a buck. I mean, are they Donald Trump-sanctioned shirts? No, they’re not. If you want to come out here and make a dollar, set up a stand, and you print out some shirts, that’s more like it. People have to calm down about it. That’s kind of humorous. His past thing as a young guy, as a young playboy bachelor on the Manhattan social scene, he was probably doing [what] any rich good-looking guy was, talking to girls, dating multiple women. You know, I wish I could do that. EVANS: The misogyny has been profound. Right over there two days ago, a group said, “We’re New York men. We’re this group called New York men.” And I said, “Oh, what is your mission?” He says, “Oh, we’re advocating for the right to rape.” So we have kind of had enough. And so we had today be about women. CODEPINK PROTESTERS: End misogyny now! End misogyny now! End misogyny now!
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