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The Populist War on Women

Jarosław Kaczyński and Donald Trump, two politicians who have shocked the world this past year, have mostly gotten away with their outrages. But not anymore: by openly embracing sexism, both have picked the wrong enemy.

WARSAW – Jarosław Kaczyński and Donald Trump, two politicians who have shocked the world this past year, have mostly gotten away with their outrages. But not anymore.

When Kaczyński’s Law and Justice (PiS) party came to power last year, it immediately seized control over key Polish institutions, including the Constitutional Tribunal, the state prosecutor’s office, public media and enterprises, even state-owned horse stables. Because the PiS government inherited a sound economy and strong fiscal position, Kaczyński hasn’t seen the need for a finance minister, so the post was recently liquidated.

Trump, too, has been engaging in behavior that under normal circumstances would be politically disqualifying: attacking the parents of a Muslim-American soldier killed in combat, mocking a disabled reporter, and impugning Senator John McCain for being captured during the Vietnam War (he was held and tortured for more than five years). Everyone was outraged, except for Trump’s voters.

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