News Analysis: Trump needs to improve standing with female voters in race to White House: experts

Brash U.S. billionaire and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will have to ramp up his game with women amid accusations that he is sexist and rude to women, experts said.

Recent weeks have seen accusations against Trump for his treatment of women, and a recent New York Times report alleged that he has behaved in a chauvinistic way toward a number of women in the past.

"It was a difficult week for Trump," Brookings Institution's senior fellow Darrell West told Xinhua, adding that Trump's treatment of women is attracting considerable attention and reinforcing unfavorable views about him.

Trump needs to improve his standing with women to stay competitive in the fall campaign, as women are likely to comprise about 52 percent of the overall electorate, West said.

"Trump will criticize the media and point to women who say he gave them tremendous career opportunities. But public opinion surveys already show a large gender gap and his negatives among female voters. That will be hard for him to turn around," West said.

Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, said that likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton will have a clear advantage with the women's vote and that there is not much that Trump can do to overcome this.

"The Trump campaign will focus on increasing the vote of men to counteract this. The real danger is that (Clinton) focuses too much on this issue and allows other issues to get unchecked," Zelizer said.

Still, Trump may have a secret weapon in his fight to grab at least some women voters -- his wife, Melania Trump.

"His wife is a great spokesperson for him because she helps humanize him and bring out his warmer qualities. I would expect Trump to use her more on the campaign trail. She is smart and articulate, and has credibility in reaching out to female voters," West said.

West added that Trump will lose the single women's vote because they are liberal in their viewpoints, but he is more competitive among married women, though he has to be careful not to lose their support as well.

"He makes so many statements about women's appearances that he is at some risk among them as well," he said.

On the campaign trail, Trump has elicited much controversy for his bombastic and over-the-top comments, such as calling Mexican illegal immigrants rapists and proposing to keep Muslims out of the United States, on fears of a radical Islamist terror attack.

Many pundits had earlier dismissed Trump as a flash in the pan, and a candidate that would not generate enough popularity to clinch the Republican Party nomination. But while Trump has proved those assumptions wrong, the New York mogul continues to drive controversy within his own party.

Indeed, a number of establishment Republicans are not pleased that the controversial Trump has grabbed the party's nomination, although analysts said they will likely fall in line and support the candidate by fall, when Trump will run against the Democratic rival in the general election. Endit