I don’t see any reason to assume it couldn’t have been, at least in part, because she’s a woman. He is a sexist, and it’s not like sexism just shuts off.
I personally think the first thing he said, about wanting her to be “very happy” when he called her “Secretary Clinton” was condescending at a level he didn’t use against male candidates.
I’m going through a list of sexist things he supposedly did. That was #1, of course. #2 is shaky, as he did mansplain about the war, but, as I’ve said many times, that word is shitty, and I have no reason he wouldn’t use that argument on anyone else.
Yeah, #3 is probably sexist. He’s talking about how she doesn’t have a “presidential look.” And it’s hard to believe someone who has actually gone to these other countries would have that experience completely devalued if she weren’t a woman. And the health scare thing has hints of sexism in it, too. One by itself might be fine, but putting it all together, and the “stamina” thing seems sexist.
I don’t buy that it’s sexist to attack her for preparing for the debate (#4). That’s just classic playing your opponent’s strengths as a weakness. He’s playing on the idea that she’s overly rehearsed. I could see him doing the same to Rubio.
Agreeing that everything is Clinton’s fault (#5) may have something to do with sexism in the general populace, but I’m pretty sure he’s just playing the meme there. He already will blame everyone else for his mistakes.
The comment about how he can’t say something because it “wouldn’t be nice” (#6) does seem like something he would never do against a male candidate. And when you find out what it is he didn’t say (#7), it makes even more sense. The thing he avoided doing, likely because his handlers told him not to, was to bring up her husbands sexual escapades. Seeing as those would equally apply to him, it seems he’s devaluing her as a woman.
So, there you go. About half of that article I agreed with, and half I didn’t. Donald Trump is sexist. He sees his own daughter as a sexual object, for fuck’s sake. So, I have no problem believing there was sexism in what he did.