The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Campaign tainted by sexism, says Cooper
Yvette Cooper has hit out at sexist attitudes towards Hillary Clinton, saying she is judged on her appearance and “not allowed to have a bad hair day”.
It comes just weeks after Mrs Clinton had to leave a memorial event for 9/11 victims early. It later emerged she had been diagnosed with pneumonia.
Ms Cooper praised Mrs Clinton’s “phenomenal” performance and contrasted her “huge authority” with the “anger” and “vitriol” of Mr Trump’s campaign.
But the former shadow home secretary, who worked on Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign, said Mrs Clinton was held up to different standards to her male rival.
She said: “I think she is being judged by different standards. For example, the focus on Hillary’s health and when she had pneumonia was partly, I think, a focus on her appearance as well. Everybody freaks out when she has a bit of a cough, but somehow it’s all right for Donald Trump to want to ban all Muslims from America.
“The interesting thing I thought was there was a focus on her appearance, because she always looks so amazing, she looks incredible – her hair and the way she looks and talks. And in those images when she was not well she doesn’t – her hair looks flat, she looks ill – and somehow that was the really evocative image.
“So she is not allowed to have a bad hair day, but Donald Trump is allowed to have a bad hair day every single day of the week.”
Ms Cooper said Mrs Clinton was the victor in the clash and put in a “phenomenal performance”.
She added: “I think she had the huge authority and experience but also steady judgment and ideas for the future as well. Whereas what you’ve got in Donald Trump is somebody that’s just based on anger, on vitriol, on Islamophobia, on so many divisive things.”
But Ms Cooper said Mrs Clinton’s long history in politics could also be a hindrance in her campaign.
She said many Americans are angry and looking for something different “even if it involves just easy promises”. Ms Cooper added: “What she’s got to show is that what she’s about is changing America, and not just carrying on the way things are at the moment because for too many Americans they are worried about falling living standards, they are worried about what’s going to happen to their kids.” Donald Trump has blamed the moderator, a bad microphone and anyone but himself after facing a barrage of criticism by Hillary Clinton over his taxes, honesty and character in the first US presidential debate on Monday evening.
The Republican tried to defend himself against some of Mrs Clinton’s most damaging attacks the next morning, even when the explanations seemed only to further damage his image among the voters he needs to win.
After brushing off her debate claim that he had once shamed a former Miss Universe winner for her weight, Mr Trump dug deeper yesterday.
“She gained a massive amount of weight. We had a real problem,” he told Fox And Friends about the 1996 winner of the pageant he once owned.
Mrs Clinton, meanwhile, was in a celebratory mood, telling reporters on her campaign plane she had a “great, great time” and was “thrilled” by how it went.
She accused Mr Trump of making “demonstrably untrue” claims in the debate and mocked him for floating the possibility that debate organisers had set him up by lowering the volume on his “terrible” microphone so he was quieter than Mrs Clinton.
“Anybody who’s complaining about the microphone is not having a good night,” she said.
Both campaigns knew the first debate could mark