On Thursday, the journalists at CNN's New Day accussed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his fellow Republicans of "sexism" for silencing Massachussetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, during debate on the floor over confirming then-Attorney General nominee Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions.
When asked by New Day host Alisyn Camerotta why Warren, but not male Democratic senators like Vermont's Bernie Sanders, was singled out for reading Coretta Scott King's 1986 letter--opposing Sessions' nomination for a federal judgeship in 1986, which ultimately failed--Bloomberg National Politics reporter Jennifer Jacobs responded, "It raises questions about why a male senator is allowed to impugn a fellow senator but why a woman wasn't."
She added, "So what Mitch McConnell did, you know, if he had allowed her to continue to speak maybe we wouldn't even have been paying attention to what she had to say, but this drew attention and it draws attention to Republican women in the majority, they have been struggling to gain a foothold, we know a few of them are committee chairs and talking to congressional reporters that that there are a few questions and it's how important they are."
Jacobs continued:
"There was an awkward situation a couple of weeks ago when Vice President Pence was meeting with some leaders and the highest ranking Republican woman has asked reporter what is going on in there and she didn't know the Vice President was having a meeting with GOP leaders."
Camerotta reacted, "Oh my gosh. Is this sexism? Has Mitch McConnell explained why the men were allowed to and she wasn't?"
"I think if you're a Democrat you have a very active base of the Democratic Party that want to see fight. That wants to see a fight to deny Trump his Cabinet, to fight over issues like the executive order, and so the move I think by the Republicans here not in this day and age," CNN political analyst David Gregory said.
He added, "It's not 1947 where if it happened on the Senate floor, it doesn't happen. She was able to take it to social media and get the message out but you see in other comments, like from Senator Lindsey Graham, that Elizabeth Warren is a divisive figure, she’s polarizing on the right and unifying on the left and happy to have this fight and I think Republicans are happy to have it too."
Gregory tied the bow on the rant and said, "This is an example of why people are disgusted with Washington and about the rules. This was a power play very inside Washington. Let's find a way to shut Elizabeth Warren down. Republicans love to have that fight."
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Sessions was confirmed Wednesday evening.
Here is the Februrary 9 exchange:
CNN New Day
02/9/2017
6:21:53 - 6:25:01 AM [3 min., 8 sec.]
CHRIS CUOMO: David Gregory, how did this move play out so far?
DAVID GREGORY: Well, I think if you're a Democrat you have a very active base of the Democratic Party that want to see fight. That wants to see a fight to deny Trump his Cabinet, to fight over issues like the executive order, and so the move I think by the Republicans here not in this day and age. It's not 1947 where if it happened on the Senate floor, it doesn't happen. She was able to take it to social media and get the message out but you see in other comments, like from Senator Lindsey Graham, that Elizabeth Warren is a divisive figure, she’s polarizing on the right and unifying on the left and happy to have this fight and I think Republicans are happy to have it too.
ALISYN CAMEROTA: Jennifer, I'm confused. Why was Senator Elizabeth Warren reprimanded for reading Coretta Scott King’s letter, but when Bernie Sanders did it, Jeff Markely did it, Tom Udall did it --
CHRIS CUOMO: Sherrod Brown did it also.
CAMEROTA: Why weren't they?
BLOOMBERG POLITICS REPORTER JENNIFER JACOBS: It raises questions about why a male senator is allowed to impugn a fellow senator but why a woman wasn't. So what Mitch McConnell did, you know, if he had allowed her to continue to speak maybe we wouldn't even have been paying attention to what she had to say, but this drew attention and it draws attention to Republican women in the majority, they have been struggling to gain a foothold, we know a few of them are committee chairs and talking to congressional reporters that that there are a few questions and it's how important they are. There was an awkward situation a couple of weeks ago when Vice President Pence was meeting with some leaders and the highest ranking Republican woman has asked reporter what is going on in there and she didn't know the Vice President was having a meeting with GOP leaders.
CAMEROTA: Oh my gosh. Is this sexism? Has Mitch McConnell explained why the men were allowed to and she wasn't?
CUOMO: They put out an explanation that part of it is you can't apply Rule 19 retroactively and these men suggested they done it and it wasn't called at the time, so they couldn't call it afterwards.
GREGORY: That's going to hold up.
CUOMO: That was their explanation.
GREGORY: This is an example of why people are disgusted with Washington and about the rules. This was a power play very inside Washington. Let's find a way to shut Elizabeth Warren down. Republicans love to have that fight.
CUOMO: But doesn’t it make it gender-based? Does the fact that it’s a woman and guys did it afterward, is that the way you see it, Alex?
