In an effort to either try to diffuse a situation as poorly as possible OR make it as bad as possible, Trump surrogate A.J. Delgado claimed that Donald Trump was not, in fact, calling Natasha Stoynoff ugly in a recent speech. However, she said, if he had, that would be totally fine. Her logic? Looks are “germane to the discussion” of sexual assault.

Delgado then argued that, even if the real estate mogul and former reality TV starwere actually referring to Stoynoff’s looks, it would be acceptable, because “when you have somebody claiming that you sexually assaulted them, you have brought looks into the equation.”

[…]

“If somebody said, ‘A.J. was attracted to me and touched me in an inappropriate manner,’ it’s relevant to the discussion whether that person is the type of person that I would normally be attracted to,” Delgado continued. “He hasn’t mentioned looks. If he did, it would be germane to the discussion. I wouldn’t find that offensive.”

Delgado’s latter claim is perhaps one of the more troublesome claims out there right now. See, sexual assault, like any other type of physical abuse, has very little to do with looks and has pretty much everything to do with power. And power is not only something Donald Trump has, but it’s something he craves. Having power over women is the exact same thing as having power over your worldly possessions. They are yours. You own them. You can do with them what you please. If Donald Trump did do the things he is alleged to have done, in the manner he is alleged to have done them, then looks have little to do with it.

This is a man who objectified his own daughter. He is a man who has bragged about the women he’s bedded and the times he has had affairs. Women are objects to him. Some of them are prizes. Those end up being the girlfriends and the wives. Others are merely tools of pleasure. Still others are a means for him to display power over others. You can’t say that looks are going to be a part of the discussion, because that is not always the case.

Furthermore, it is incredibly dangerous to claim that looks are a part of the discussion when it comes to sexual assault. You are essentially handing out a defense (albeit an incredibly weak one) to anyone who does the same thing Trump (allegedly) did. That is reckless rhetoric, and it’s absolutely disgusting to use it.

Trump supporters are quickly becoming as dangerous and despicable as their candidate. With any luck, however, many of them will be out of the political class when this is all over.

…I hope.