Last week, in a shocking turn of events, US president-elect Donald Trump said A Stupid Thing. Like most of the sounds that slaver from his mouth, it was free of any fact, logic or thought, and spat out to a crowd of cheering fans and staunch supporters. For those who aren’t aware (or for those who’ve just lost track), this particular Stupid Thing was a reaction to the Republican’s recent coronation as the Time ‘Person Of The Year’. 

Speaking to the Iowa crowd of his ‘Thank You’ tour last Thursday, the billionaire vented his frustrations at the “political correctness” of the honour. “They used to call it ‘Man of the Year,’ but they can’t do that any more, so they call it ‘person’,” he scoffed. “They want to be politically correct. That’s OK.”

In a clear sign that things weren’t so OK, Trump brought up the same subject just one day later in Louisiana. “Who’d rather have it the ‘Man of the Year?’” he said, before then manipulatively turning the question to the women in the audience. “All the women want it to be ‘Man of the Year’... That could be why the magazine business isn’t so great, right?”

Given Trump’s track record for misogyny and bigotry, this almost doesn’t seem worth mentioning. After all, this is the same man who has been objectifying women for decades, rating their bodies out of 10, and dismissing them as pigs, dogs and “pieces of ass”. This deep-rooted disrespect was clarified during his presidential campaign, when a tape was unearthed of him boasting about grabbing women by “the pussy”, and 12 women – one of whom was 13 at the time – accused him of sexual misconduct. Trump brushed off these claims. “Have you seen what these women look like?” he reportedly said. “I don’t think so.”

Much of the US is clearly more than happy to turn a blind eye to Trump’s comments – but now that he’s has been elected, it’s incredibly important that we don’t. With his recent cabinet picks, the president-elect has shown that this is more than just “locker room talk”, choosing a team of nominees that show flagrant disdain for basic women’s rights.

There’s attorney general pick Jeff Sessions, who previously voted against funding shelters and services for victims of domestic violence. Then there’s new health and human services secretary Tom Price, who voted against employers providing health care plans with contraception to women. There’s also potential secretary of labour pick Andrew Puzder, who is against raising the minimum wage – a decision that would affect women considerably more than men (two-thirds of minimum-wage earners are female).

Trump’s presidency also plans to reverse a woman’s right to a safe and legal abortion. According to the Republicans, Roe v Wade should be “overturned”, with legislative decisions being pushed back to the states. Given recent developments in Texas, where women will now be required to bury their aborted foetuses, and Ohio, where abortions will be banned after six weeks of pregnancy, a reversal suddenly looks worryingly plausible. 

So while it’s easy to brush off yet another jokey, “politically incorrect” comment, we should probably remember that Trump is days away from becoming the most powerful man in the world. It would be stupid to dismiss the power of words now – especially when things have gone this far. Especially when, as we’re now starting to see, his actions are beginning to back them up.

“He is not fit to be the president,” warned Republican strategist Ana Navarro back in October. “He is not fit to be the Republican nominee, he is not fit to be called a man. How many times does he get away with saying something misogynistic before we call him a misogynist? How many times does he get away with saying something sexist before we acknowledge that he is a sexist? It is time to condemn the man.”