By Dahleen Glanton

Chicago Tribune

Donald Trump might have earned a reputation as a ladies’ man in his lifetime, but clearly he knows very little about women.

“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,” is taken from a line in the play “The Mourning Bride.” Right now, women are mad as hell at Trump. And three weeks from now, they are going to lead the way in taking him down.

Early on, Trump managed to get away with making vile attacks against Muslims, Hispanics, African-Americans and gays without being punished in the polls. Even when he mocked the disabled, some supporters looked the other way.

Some would say his campaign flourished early on because of his keen ability to play Americans against each other. He promised to make America great again while giving a sly wink to constituents who would like to see certain groups removed from the landscape. Those groups never were going to vote for Trump anyway, so he had nothing to lose by turning on them.

But he met his match when he disrespected women. They represent about 53 percent of the electorate, and ever since women were granted the right to vote, no presidential candidate has ascended to the White House without their support.

Even before they could vote, women always have held the power to change the course of our nation. If there’s any doubt about that, take a little stroll through history.

Harriet Tubman. Susan B. Anthony. Rosa Parks. They’re just a few of the women who didn’t like the direction America was going and decided to step up and turn things around.

It’s scary to imagine living in an America where they had not taken on the issues of slavery, suffrage, racial equality and women’s rights.

On Nov. 8, women collectively will face perhaps their greatest test in modern history — stopping Trump from becoming the 45th president of the United States. And they are up for the job.

Women could be the deciding factor in this presidential race and the Republican nominee seems to be losing more and more support from this crucial voting bloc every day.

An NBC/Wall Street Journal national poll released Sunday showed that women have propelled Hillary Clinton to an 11-point lead over Trump, 48 percent to 37 percent, among all likely voters. Among female voters, Clinton has a 20-point lead over Trump, 55 to 35 percent. Among men, however, Trump still is the preferred candidate, 48 to 45 percent.

In the 13 battleground states that could ultimately decide the race, Clinton has a 15-point lead over Trump among women voters, significantly higher than the 5-point lead she held a month ago, according to a new CBS poll. In addition, Trump’s support among Republican women has fallen to 77 percent from 84 percent a month ago.

The Republican nominee appeared dumbfounded over the news that women aren’t planning to vote for him. He blamed it on media bias.

” … can you believe I lost large numbers of women voters based on made up events THAT NEVER HAPPENED,” he tweeted on Sunday.

Apparently, it never occurred to him that women don’t like him because he’s a jerk.

Over the past two weeks, Trump has made serious miscalculations when it comes to women.

He seemed to think that most women would be willing to overlook his lewd comments and boasts about sexual misconduct. He thought he could say it was “locker room talk” and women would pass it off as boys’ talk.

He thought women would turn against other women who have come forward to talk about Trump’s unwanted sexual advances against them. He seemed to have no idea that women might find it credible that Trump had actually done the things he bragged about on that “Access Hollywood” audiotape.

And, in an attempt to put his female opponent on the defensive, Trump thought women would blame the victim for having a philandering husband. But at the same time, women weren’t expected to hold his former wives to the same standard.

Perhaps Trump’s biggest mistake, though, was in thinking he could do all of these things without ever issuing a heartfelt apology.

After all, U.S. presidents have been abusing women since Thomas Jefferson assaulted Sally Hemings. What is there to apologize for, especially when Clinton’s own husband has been accused of doing the same thing?

But, oh, was he wrong about women.

They refused to be treated like battered wives who go back to their husbands only to be beaten again. Instead, they are taking up the mantle of the martyrs who have gone before them.

And on Election Day, they are going to teach Trump a thing or two about women that he never knew before.

Dahleen Glanton is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune. Readers may email her at dglanton@chicagotribune.com.