'Depths of misogyny': Gender expert slams Trump for using wife as 'prop' in sordid trial

A New York Times gender writer slammed “family man” Donald Trump Thursday for using his wife Melania as a “prop” while he’s bombarded by sleazy allegations of extra-marital sex.

Jessica Bennett vented that Trump’s lawyers are playing up his love for his wife and his kids, his commitment to the family unit, in the hope that it’ll sway the jury away from lurid allegations witnesses are making in his hush money trial.

He is facing 34 business fraud charges involving payments made to an adult movie actress, allegedly to keep her quiet about claims she had a sexual relationship with him.

“The jury’s decision may hinge in part on whether they are willing to be convinced of that family-man argument, or all the evidence to the contrary,” Bennett said.

She went on, detailing the former president’s reaction as the adult film star, Stormy Daniels, revealed sordid details of the sexual encounter she said the two had — while Trump muttered curse words and “shook his head in disgust.”

ALSO READ: ‘Morality does not exist for him’: Remembering Ted Cruz’s epic Trump rant

“Family. It’s a word that has come up repeatedly among Mr. Trump’s defenders, as they try to convince jurors that any action by Mr. Trump was not to break the law or influence an election but to protect his family,” wrote Bennett. “Throughout the trial … Mr. Trump’s team has tried to paint the former president as a loving husband and father. In doing so, they are trying to convince jurors that Mr. Trump cares about his wife and children more than anything else — including his money or his reputation. The idea of 'Donald Trump, family man' is one that jurors have to buy, or not.”

And yet, Bennett wrote, only one family member has attended any days at trial — his son, Eric. His wife, Melania, has been nowhere to be seen, despite Trump sending public messages of love to her on her birthday.

He also made a big deal about the trial stopping him from attending his youngest son Barron’s high school graduation though, when the judge relented and granted him the time to attend, he quickly planned a fundraiser for the same day.

“His team sure is trying,” wrote Bennett.

“'He’s not just our former president,' his lawyer argued during the trial’s opening statements. ‘He’s a husband. He’s a father. And he’s a person — just like you and just like me,’” Bennett wrote, before adding, "Consider me, um, skeptical.”

"What we have learned in this case is that Mr. Trump hung around with Stormy Daniels and Ms. McDougal in 2006 and 2007, which was not long after he and Melania Trump were married, and while she was at home with their newborn son," she continued. “We also learned that sometimes this emphasis on being 'fatherly' had a creepy vibe, as when Ms. Daniels testified that Mr. Trump said she reminded him of his elder daughter, Ivanka — blond, beautiful and smart, and often underestimated — all before stripping down to his underwear while she was in the bathroom."

She concluded, “Now we have Mr. Trump, on trial on criminal charges, again using his family, and his wife, as a shield — or, worse, prop. My concern here isn’t so much Mr. Trump himself, but rather how his actions and the trial are a familiar referendum on the depths of his misogyny.”