With Vance’s elevation, Pennsylvania voters reexamine Trump’s views on women

More than a week after Kamala Harris’s debut as the likely Democratic presidential nominee, the buzz around her candidacy is still fresh here in the collar counties surrounding Philadelphia. Though many voters acknowledged they know little about her or her ideas, they used words like “exciting” and “energizing” to describe the political moment.
Cut through the 2024 election noise. Get The Campaign Moment newsletter.

But the politician everyone really wanted to talk about was Sen. JD Vance, with his selection as former president Donald Trump’s running mate sparking a new chapter in the long-running conversation about Trump’s views of women.

Vance’s comments from 2021 suggesting that Americans without children “don’t really have a direct stake” in the country’s future went viral days ago. But unfortunately for Trump, the maelstrom surrounding his running mate is still stirring in this perennial battleground. In interviews with more than two dozen voters, it was clear that Vance’s views have renewed unease about Trump’s judgment, his past statements about women and his record on abortion. Almost universally, voters also said they were bracing for Trump to unleash personal attacks on Harris.

More From The Washington Post (subscription required):