Editorial: GOP candidates should attack sexism, not wives

Republican presidential candidates have decided to trade the debate stage for social media’s spotlight.

Last week, an anti-Trump SuperPAC called Make America Awesome began circulating an ad featuring a nude photo of Melania Trump. The picture served as a cover for British GQ in 2000 and shows Melania Trump laying naked on a bed of furs, handcuffed to a leather suitcase — all of which was shot on Donald Trump’s private jet. The ad tells viewers, “Meet Melania Trump. Your Next First Lady. Or, you could support Ted Cruz on Tuesday.”

In response, Donald Trump began blaming the Cruz campaign for approving the ad, even claiming that the campaign had purchased and distributed the GQ photo. Trump has continued tweeting threats to release embarrassing information about Cruz’s wife, Heidi, which he repeated on ABC’s “This Week.” Cruz responded by denying involvement in the initial ad and accusing Trump of having no boundaries to his attacks.

The Republican primary is devolving into a high school Twitter battle. There is no longer a core policy difference — on ISIS, immigration or otherwise — dominating the Republican primary. Worse, the responses to these pointless attacks completely overlook why they are actually so terrible. There is no mention of slut-shaming or sexism, even though they are clearly visible. If Cruz or Donald Trump truly wanted to make this fight worth something, instead of attacking each other further, they should have just called these attacks out for what they are: reminders of how Republicans have betrayed women.

Political attacks on the family of a candidate are nothing new. Both liberals and conservatives publicly mocked a teenage Chelsea Clinton for her appearance, and in 2004, Cindy McCain suffered through baseless accusations of drug addiction. Even Bernie Sanders’ wife, Jane, has been the target of attacks that she doesn’t look like a “typical First Lady.”

But sexuality in particular has plagued presidential spouses as far back as Andrew Jackson’s wife, Rachel. It continues today, with Hillary Clinton facing demands to atone for her husband’s alleged sexual impropriety, even though Bill is not the candidate this cycle.

The initial ad attacking Melania Trump is a textbook case of slut-shaming. Accentuating her sexuality and forwarding her own modeling career in no way disqualifies her from serving as First Lady. That doesn’t mean the attacks won’t work, but it shouldn’t be happening at all. And the two people capable of ending it — Donald Trump and Cruz — are in no position to speak up for the people they have so intensely alienated.

Had Donald Trump attacked the ad based on its evident sexism instead of delving into petty threats of retaliation, he might have received his first positive news coverage all year. But doing so would both contradict his hostile campaign approach and place him in an awkward position, as he has consistently been sexist himself. Whether he was accusing Megyn Kelly of being mean due to menstruation or mocking Rosie O’Donnell’s weight, Donald Trump’s record with women is appalling.

Cruz rejects that employers should have to provide paid family leave, denies that women still face a gap in wages and is staunchly pro-life. Taking the moral high ground on the treatment of women would seem equally out of line with his campaign platform thus far.

But the candidates owe it to the women they hope to serve to call out the sexism infecting this election. The race should be based on policy, not gender politics. On both areas, the sides are failing to show why they are better than the other. Defending women from baseless, sexist attacks is not a partisan issue — it’s just part of being a decent person. Taking the lead is an opportunity to show that women still have a place in the Republican party, not a risk.

That the campaigns seem to think their only possible response is to go on offense speaks to how out of touch the GOP is with women.

American women deserve better than Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. Evidently, so do their wives.