The #womancard factor: What's at stake for Trump and Clinton beyond the hashtags

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's claim that Hillary Clinton is playing "the woman's card" has drawn intense backlash, from the Democratic frontrunner herself as well as tens of thousands of critics on social media.

WHAT TRUMP SAID

Trump levelled the "woman's card" accusation Tuesday after his own five-state primary sweep. "She's got nothing else going," Trump told supporters in New York. "And, frankly, if Hillary Clinton were a man, I don't think she'd get 5 per cent of the vote." He added in an immediate contradiction that "the beautiful thing is women don't like her."

WHAT CLINTON SAID

"If fighting for women's health care and paid family leave and equal pay is playing the 'woman card,' then deal me in," Clinton responded in Philadelphia as she celebrated wins in four out of five of Tuesday's Democratic primaries.

So if fighting for women is playing the #WomanCard, well... pic.twitter.com/wUuidf8qoj

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) April 27, 2016

HOW SOCIAL MEDIA RESPONDED

Trump's remarks prompted social media hashtags like #dealmein and #womancard, the latter ranking among the top 10 global trending topics on Twitter Wednesday, with more than 45,000 tweets by late afternoon.

Voters also circulated video of Mary Pat Christie, the wife of Trump backer and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who stood behind Trump during his victory speech Tuesday and looked as though she was rolling her eyes as he made those comments.

CONTEXT: WHERE THE CANDIDATES STAND WITH WOMEN

The exchange highlights Trump's perilous standing among female voters who could help propel Clinton to the White House.

An anti-Trump super PAC, backed by Republican donors, last month launched an ad in which unnamed women read aloud quotes Trump has proffered about females. "Bimbo. Dog. Fat Pig," the ad begins, with later references to Trump critiquing "flat-chested" women and referring to "a young and beautiful piece of a–" and a woman "dropping to your knees."

In March, Trump distributed via social media an unflattering image of Heidi Cruz, Trump rival Ted Cruz's wife, prompting the Texas senator to assert that "strong women scare Donald."

Cruz, who's aiming to topple Trump at the Republicans' July convention in Cleveland, implicitly emphasized the frontrunner's turbulent relationships with women Wednesday as he tapped former candidate Carly Fiorina as his would-be running mate, praising her as someone who has "over and over … shattered glass ceilings."

Four years ago, 11 out of 13 general election swing states went to the nominee who won among women. Of those 11, President Barack Obama, with 55 per cent of the female vote nationally, won nine; Republican Mitt Romney won just two.

If Clinton manages an even wider advantage among women than Obama, Democrats say she may get a boost in states like Pennsylvania and Colorado, casting them out of Trump's reach while allowing her to compete in GOP-leaning territory like Georgia and North Carolina.

WHAT THE POLLS SAY

As for Trump's claim that women "don't like" Clinton, he's wrong at the very least about Democratic primary voters. Exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and television networks in 25 states this year show Clinton won 62 per cent of female voters over Bernie Sanders'$2 36 per cent.

In a recent AP-GfK poll of the general population, women weren't significantly more likely than men to have an unfavourable opinion of either Trump or Clinton. Women, however, were more likely than men to say they definitely would not vote for Trump in a general election, 66 per cent to 60 per cent. About half of men and women said they would definitely not vote for Clinton.

Among Republicans only, primary exit polls have shown Trump facing a gender gap his last remaining rivals do not have. In the 25 states polled, Trump won 36 per cent women and 44 per cent of men. Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich both demonstrated consistent support across genders.

MORE READING