Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump called former President Bill Clinton "one of the great abusers of the world" at a campaign in South Carolina Wednesday and said that his Democratic presidential counterpart, Hillary Clinton, is not liked by women.
Trump told thousands of supporters in Hilton Head that he had "no choice" but to attack the Clintons after they accused him of sexism. He suggested that his criticism was so effective that the Democratic front-runner is scared to talk about him anymore, reported The Washington Examiner.
"You can't let people push you around. You can't let people tell lies," Trump said, adding that "nobody respects women more than Donald Trump. "
"For the last week she's been hitting me really hard with the women card, OK? Really hard," he said. "And I had to say, OK, that's enough. That's enough. And we did a strong number. Clinton is not going to win."
Clinton is "always so theatrical" when she criticizes him, the real estate mogul said, mimicking Clinton. "'Mr. Trump said this and that and this.' I just have to turn off the television sometimes. She just gives me a headache."
But last night, Trump said he thinks he "gave her a big headache" when he slammed the Clintons during separate media appearances and at a campaign rally, just days before Bill Clinton is scheduled to hit the road to campaign for his wife.
Referring to the former president's past sexual misconduct, Trump told NBC on Tuesday, "You look at whether it's Monica Lewinsky or Paula Jones or many of them... there was certainly a lot of abuse of women." He added that the misconduct "will be fair game" if Hillary Clinton continues to call him sexist.
Trump said at the rally Wednesday that he "had to mention her husband's...tremendous abuse of women" and that he imagines the Clintons had some awkward discussions following his comments.
"I can imagine. I can imagine those discussions. But you have to hit back hard," he said, noting later in his speech that "the last thing [Clinton] wants in her whole life is to go up against him in a general election."
He continued: "I did this in like 15 minutes, what happened to them. Because the husband wants to come and she wants to accuse me of things, and the husband's one of the great abusers of the world. Give me a break. Give me a break. Give me a break," Trump said, according to Politico.
Trump also noted that Clinton gave her final town hall speech of the year on Wednesday, "and she didn't even mention my name."
The real estate mogul said he would "love, love, love having a woman president," but suggested that his daughter, Ivanka, would do a much better job than Clinton.
"It can't be her, she's horrible," he said of the former secretary of state.
Turning to Clinton's female base, Trump said, "I'll tell you who doesn't like Hillary are women. Women don't like Hillary. I see it all the time."
CNN's latest national poll found that 82 percent of female Democrats view Clinton favorably, while 15 percent have an unfavorable view.
