Donald Trump Organizer Alleges She Was Fired In Iowa For Sexist Reasons

A former paid organizer for presidential candidate Donald Trump says she was the victim of sex discrimination when she worked to rally voters around the businessman’s Iowa campaign. The accusations, made by Elizabeth Mae Davidson, 26, came in the days leading up to the Iowa caucuses Monday when Trump’s viability as a presidential candidate will be put to its first real test.

Part of the reason for Davidson’s dismissal, the complaint alleges, is that she was quoted in a New York Times article that was highly critical of the Trump campaign’s organizing effort in Iowa to get voters to caucus for the billionaire. Davidson says in the complaint, which was filed Thursday with the Davenport Civil Rights Commission, she was paid less than men on the campaign and wasn’t allowed to do things like speak at rallies though the men were. When she met Trump, she says the billionaire told her and another woman they could “do some damage,” referring to their physical looks.

But the Trump campaign could have more to worry about than this complaint, in which Davidson alleges getting fired hurt her reputation and denied her income. If the Times article in which she was originally quoted says anything about the campaign, it may be that it could be difficult for the campaign to get supporters to caucus Feb. 1. Caucuses generally have lower voter turnout because of the complicated rules and time commitment involved in registering one’s preference. A strong team on the ground in the state has traditionally been necessary to convince voters to show up and caucus for a candidate.

That said, Trump currently enjoys a healthy lead in averages of polls of Iowa voters. He is 6.2 percent ahead of his closest rival in the state, and captures 30.4 percent of the overall vote, according to the Real Clear Politics average of polls.