Carly Fiorina Responds to Donald Trump's Comments About Her Face

Donald Trump, a man who cherishes women, had some things to say about Carly Fiorina’s face. “Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that?” Trump said to a Rolling Stone reporter. Though the Republican frontrunner later claimed that he wasn’t actually talking about Fiorina’s literal face, Fiorina seized on the comments in a Friday speech.

“Ladies, look at this face,” Fiorina said in an address to the National Federation of Republican Women in Phoenix. “This is the face of a 61-year-old woman. I am proud of every year and every wrinkle.”

She continued:

“Look at all of your faces. The face of leadership. The face of leadership in our party, the party of women’s suffrage. The face of leadership in your communities, in your businesses, in your places of work and worship. Ladies, note to Democrat Party: We are not a special interest group, we are the majority of the nation.”

After taking an unnamed swipe at Trump, Fiorina pivoted to Hillary Clinton (the only candidate Fiorina named during her speech). She noted that Clinton didn’t understand technology, referencing the Democratic candidate’s email server scandal.

Fiorina, the only woman in the Republican primary, then lamented the focus on “women’s issues,” recycling the tired line that “every issue is a woman’s issue.” In a literal sense, of course, Fiorina is right, but realistically reproductive rights and equal pay have a bit more relevance to the lives of women; refusing to acknowledge that these are gendered and racial issues is truly a disservice to the complexities of those issues.

She herself noted that gender played a role in the media coverage of her campaign, noting that she had been asked if her “hormones” would affect the way she governs. “So ladies, let’s just think. Can we think of a single instance in which a man’s judgment was clouded by his hormones?” Fiorina said.

But Fiorina doesn’t need to worry about gender (except when she does), she concluded her speech by asking for non-gendered votes:

“I am not asking for your vote and your support because I am a woman. I am asking for your vote and your support because I am the most qualified candidate to win this job and to do this job.”