In a ridiculous discussion that sounded as though it belonged in a forum of a left-wing website, the panel on Sunday’s Meet the Press bemoaned how the country’s attitude towards women cost Hillary Clinton the White House. Moderator Chuck Todd read from the recent NYT column of Nicholas Kristof, who described Clinton’s idea of Trump voters as “I don’t agree with him, I’m not sure I really approve of him, but he looks like somebody who’s been president before.” Paraphrasing Clinton, Todd suggested that “she believed misogyny played a much larger role in this than it’s been analyzed by many of us.”
Helene Cooper, The New York Times’s Pentagon correspondent, agreed that sexism had a hand in Clinton’s defeat. “I think many women probably feel that way. And I don't think I would necessarily dismiss that,” she argued, “I've talked to plenty of Trump voters who say they just didn't like Hillary, including women who said, no, there's just something -- I just didn't like her. I think there's something to be said for that.”
“But I think we can’t pretend that this sort of misogyny doesn’t exist. I think it would be naïve,” she continued.
She wasn’t the only panelist who bought into Clinton’s assertions. David Brooks, another New York Times columnists (surprise, surprise), was in full agreement as well. “Gender politics clearly played a role in this election,” he opined before slamming Trump with a smirk:
Donald Trump is a cliché of old-fashioned masculinity and a lot of people long for that kind of masculinity which is never coming back, but they long for it. And so, to say that his hyper-macho stereotype is not part of why he got elected, I mean, it wasn't his knowledge.
But Danielle Pletka from the American Enterprise Institute shot down Clinton’s whining and blame shifting. “Okay, first of all, Hillary Clinton doesn't want to take responsibility for anything. She lost the election because she's Hillary Clinton, not because she's a woman,” she declared.
She agreed that the women do have a more difficult time in politics, but she chastised the former Secretary for complaining about it. “Look, if you want to be a woman who's influential than stand up to it, ignore it and it will change over time. Screaming about misogyny doesn't change things,” she decried.
The National Review’s Rich Lowry agreed and pointed out that during the GOP primaries Trump was the largest figure on every stage. “So he had a certain executive bearing and that helped but ultimately Hillary Clinton is not just not good at politics,” he contended, “She's not a good campaigner and she's probably the one active politician in the country who could have lost to Donald Trump and she did.”
“You think another woman could have beaten Donald Trump,” Todd asked him, to which Lowry responded with: “A likable woman could have, yes.”
The media’s rehashed cries of sexism show that they are quite like Clinton, in that they don’t “want to take responsibility for anything,” as Pletka put it. And the only reason they brought it up this long after the election is because Clinton had crawled out of the woods and had cried foul to a sympathetic ear. It shows how, once again, the media will push her argument for her.
Transcript below:
NBC
Meet the Press
April 9, 2017
11:24:34 AM EasternCHUCK TODD: Back now with End Game. Hillary Clinton sort of came out. Did an interview with Nicholas Kristof—where hours before President Trump addressed the nation saying we’re bombing an airfield, she was recommending we should be bombing his airfield. But she said something else in the interview that’s in his column this morning talking about the election. And she said “[She] characterized the mind-set of some Trump voters as, ‘I don’t agree with him, I’m not sure I really approve of him, but he looks like somebody who’s been president before.’” Helene, she believed misogyny played a much larger role in this than it’s been analyzed by many of us. What do you say?
HELENE COOPER: I think many women probably feel that way. And I don't think I would necessarily dismiss that. I've talked to plenty of Trump voters who say they just didn't like Hillary, including women who said, no, there's just something -- I just didn't like her. I think there's something to be said for that.
…
But I think we can’t pretend that this sort of misogyny doesn’t exist. I think it would be naïve.
DANIELLE PLETKA: Oh, come on.
TODD: Dani, she took it a step further. She said that women in power just get negatively characterized over time more so than men. That was the larger argument. What do you say?
PLETKA: Okay, first of all, Hillary Clinton doesn't want to take responsibility for anything. She lost the election because she's Hillary Clinton, not because she's a woman. And, yes, of course, women in power are more negatively portrayed, hard-charging man, a woman is a -- can I go after Lindsey graham and use a bad word? We know what it is. Look, if you want to be a woman who's influential than stand up to it, ignore it and it will change over time. Screaming about misogyny doesn't change things.
DAVID BROOKS: Yeah I disagree. Gender politics clearly played a role in this election.
PLETKA: Ek
BROOKS: Not so much -- not necessarily misogyny but certainly -- Donald Trump is a cliché of old-fashioned masculinity and a lot of people long for that kind of masculinity which is never coming back but they long for it. And so, to say that his hyper-macho stereotype is not part of why he got elected, I mean, it wasn't his knowledge.
TODD: You're nodding.
RICH LOWRY: You saw this in the primaries. Where t didn't matter how sophomoric Donald Trump was being, if you’re standing in the middle of the debate stage he was a bigger figure than anyone else up there. So he had a certain executive bearing and that helped, but ultimately Hillary Clinton is not just not good at politics. She's not a good campaigner and she's probably the one active politician in the country who could have lost to Donald Trump and she did.
TODD: And you don't think -- you think another woman could have beaten Donald Trump?
LOWRY: A likable woman could have, yes.
