Former President Donald Trump said Wednesday at a campaign rally that “whether the women like it or not,” he will “protect” them, noting that his advisers had instructed him not to use the line, which he said they deemed “inappropriate.”

Speaking near Green Bay, Wisconsin, Trump tried to hammer the Biden-Harris administration on immigration, saying they had  “imported criminal migrants” to enter the country and to “assault, rape and murder our women and girls.” He then added that “anyone who would let monsters kidnap and kill our children does not belong anywhere near the Oval Office.”

The former president then described how he would “protect” women, though he noted that his team had urged him against using the line.

“My people told me about four weeks ago, I would say ‘no, I want to protect the people. I want to protect the women of our country. I want to protect the women,'” Trump said, describing how his advisers said it would be “very inappropriate for you to say.” 

“I said, ‘Well, I’m going to do it, whether the women like it or not, I’m going to protect them,'” Trump said. 

Trump went on to ask the crowd, to applause, “is there any woman in this giant stadium who would like not to be protected? Is there any woman in this stadium that wants to be protected by the president?” 

The comments come as a recent CBS News poll showed a widening gender gap among voters, with women supporting Vice President Kamala Harris by a 10-point margin. Among the findings, 40% of registered women voters say that the Trump campaign is paying too much attention to men’s concerns, and 56% saying the campaign is paying too little attention to women’s concerns. 

In recent weeks, Trump also referred to himself as “father of IVF,” and he’s sustained criticism for disparaging remarks he’s made about his opponent. Meanwhile, former ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley, who competed against Trump during the primary, has pointed out how critical women are in this election, while urging the Trump campaign not to “get overly masculine.”

“Fifty-three percent of the electorate are women,” Haley said on Fox News earlier this week. “Women will vote. They care about how they’re being talked to and they care about the issues. They need to remember that.”