I’m here today not because I want to be.
I am terrified.
Trump's voice: How’d you get there? I don’t remember.
Where is the place? I don’t remember.
To tell you what happened to me while Brett Kavanaugh and I were in high school.
The #MeToo movement – a climactic change that many hope will wash away the patriarchy.
But Republican women see things differently.
What do you think of the #MeToo movement?
Oh, I don’t know. I’m not a feminist.
I think the #MeToo movement may have had a noble beginning,
but I think it’s really ridiculous.
I just think it’s stupid, I just …
I don’t even understand what they’re doing.
I don’t give a damn to put it bluntly.
I think a lot of them are just hateful women who have jumped on the bandwagon.
They’re those women who were out there in Washington in those horrible pink hats.
Some people are saying this is the year of the woman.
I hope it’s the year of the conservative woman.
Yes! Watch out, we’re ready to fight.
I can tell.
Thank you.
Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The ideal place to come in a midterm year with record numbers of women candidates.
Both major party candidates for the House [of Representatives] here, are women.
Today is the day, this is the most important election of our lifetime.
Deb Haaland, the Democrat, whose native American background
has become something of an issue for the Republican candidate,
Janice Arnold-Jones.
And your opponent, she would be the first Native American, as a woman, in Congress.
That’s what they say, yes.
That’s what they say, what do you mean by that?
Well I’m saying there’s no doubt that her lineage is Laguna,
but she’s a military brat just like I am.
And so, I think it evokes images of, that she was raised on a reservation.
I joined Halaand on the campaign trail.
Your opponent questioned your Native American heritage
because you didn’t grow up on a reservation.
Right.
It’s hard to deny though, isn’t it?
I’m not denying it.
I mean all you gotta do is look at me, right?
A debate between the candidates and a chance to ask Arnold-Jones a question.
I’d seen that you’d sort of questioned your opponent's Native American heritage because …
No I did not, not even, not even close.
You said, 'you have to live in that community to claim that community.'
I did not say that.
I’m quoting you from the Albuquerque newspaper.
I did not say that.
So, they misquoted you.
Well, that’s not unusual, they also said that I’m not in favour of
securing the border.
So where did they get this from?
I have no idea.
I think it’s an interview with you.
OK so, are you finished?
I’d like to eat breakfast,
because I know that whatever I say to you guys …
Excuse me, we’re finished sir, turn it off.
Turn it off.
Ma’am you don’t get to tell us when we turn our cameras off.
OK, I’m done.
They’re from the Guardian, so just let me tell you is that,
I’m a solid representative for the state of New Mexico,
and I listen to all New Mexicans, that is everybody.
My name is Deb Haaland, and Congress has never heard a voice like mine
because we’ve never had a Native American woman in congress, in over 240 years.
During the debate, the question of identity returned.
This isn’t about American Indians,
it’s not about women.
What about the white male, are we bad all of a sudden?
You know, as a gay man, am I bad all of a sudden?
You know, my friend Deb says that nobody’s heard a voice like hers in Congress.
Well, in the real world, we all know that there’s lots of voices in Congress,
very much like this, that want to control your life, undermine the constitution …
After the debate, I resumed my interview with Arnold-Jones.
Do you think there’s too much identity politics in America right now?
I do, I think it’s terrible.
You know, my opponents, if you want to define them by their skin colour,
their sexual choice, shame on you, they are much more than that.
What do you think of the #MeToo movement?
Do I think it’s time that we stop feeling like
we have to defend ourselves as a woman every place we go? Yes.
I’m old enough to tell you that yes, I got chased around a desk,
I didn’t get the contract because I wasn’t going to do what he asked.
So, that’s what that’s about.
Across town, a private event for Republican women.
And a chance to learn more about their views on gender politics.
OK, how many women in this room, went to the women’s march in Washington,
after Trump was elected?
OK. No hands. OK.
But you know, the women’s march people claim that they speak for you.
The president said that he thought that it was a very scary time
for young men in America right now.
And I wonder whether there’s people in this room who agree.
I have four boys.
Every mother agrees. Every mother.
My husband was a boss.
Some woman that he worked with 30 years ago could now come forward
and file a complaint against him, which is not true,
and he can’t even defend himself
because now, the woman is always right according to the left.
Can they not speak civilly and naturally like your grandmother
and like we have been taught to do, and still get their point across?
It was hard to reconcile how these Republicans were talking about their female opponents
and the warmth they showed toward me when they found out it was my birthday.
(Happy Birthday song)
It seemed my identity as a man, and as an outsider,
free from the baggage of American politics,
was its own kind of privilege.
Identity politics is usually associated with the left.
But Trump also feeds off identity politics,
indulging the prejudices of white America with racial slurs like this:
Pocahontas, they always want me to apologise for saying it.
He’s referring to Democrat Elizabeth Warren, who changed her ethnicity to native American
when she was a law professor.
She recently released a genetic test showing a small trace of native American DNA.
Native American heritage is about more than genetics.
Haaland is a member of the Laguna Pueblo.
She invited me to a campaign stop at another Native American community.
I don’t speak for my tribe or for anyone’s tribe …
The front row, reserved for the governing officials,
occupied only by men.
You should be the ones talking to the lawmakers,
it’s your voice that they should be listening to.
Thank you.
Some Native American women have said to me that
their communities can be quite patriarchal.
And maybe even more so than wider society.
Do you feel that’s true?
Absolutely, yes absolutely, do you see any women up there?
So many people went off the rails about Senator Warren doing her DNA test
and finding out that she has some Native American blood in her.
Given Elizabeth Warren is like somewhere around 1%,
or 1.5% Native American,
I can understand why some Native American people
are saying that they find that problematic.
Right. Right well, perhaps. But it’s not for me to decide.
I think there is a backlash against identity politics, and I wonder what your riposte to that is.
It’s easy for people to cry identity politics when they’ve always been represented. Right?
I’ve never seen a Native American woman in Congress.
I’ve never seen myself in the US House of Representatives, ever.
And so, I mean, for a white male who has always seen himself there,
it’s easy for him to say, 'no I don’t vote on identity politics.'
I think that’s a cop out.
If more women are going to be elected this year, Democrats will need to turn out.
Are we ready to win?
The #MeToo movement, and the rise of Trump, has united their party
providing a newfound mission.
It’s energised us, because we’re not stopping.
And you see … look at this yard today.
For many women, this election is personal but it's also partisan.
We can show the Republicans that we’re getting out early.
They’re going to be scared.
Don’t you want to scare some Republicans this time around?
Yes, I want to scare as many as I can.