Appearing on Wednesday’s CBS This Morning, New Yorker writer Malcolm Gladwell warned the hosts that Hillary Clinton would be the victim of sexist attacks if she became president: “...if you look at previous examples of women who become the first head of state in their country, the examples are really a little bit sobering. It's not easy to be the first woman to take that. And so, if Hillary wins, I mean, my prediction is she's going to be in for a tough time...”
Gladwell cited the example of Australia’s first female prime minister Julia Gillard, who was elected in 2010 and served until 2013. He bemoaned: “...what happened to Gillard in Australia is very, very interesting. She gets elected, everyone says, ‘Wow, we final elected a woman.’ And there is this kind of backlash. It unleashes this kind of torrent of suppressed misogyny and abuse. You cannot imagine what she goes through...”
Co-host Charlie Rose wondered: “But is there a torrent of misogyny out there?” Gladwell insisted: “...it's already there. And I think there's a lot more that you can – that will happen once – if she [Clinton] gets elected.”
Gladwell was on to promote his new podcast, Revisionist History – a fitting title since he conveniently ignored how Australia’s former left-wing prime minister was plagued by scandal and drew harsh criticism for her outspoken atheism.
Here is a transcript of the June 15 exchange:
8:34 AM ET
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NORAH O’DONNELL: Let's talk about your podcast series. You're calling it Revisionist History. Why?
MALCOLM GLADWELL: Because I – the idea for the show is that every week for ten weeks we pick an event, a person, or a – in one case it’s a song, a painting – that happened at some point in the past and I retell the story and say, “You know, you may have remembered this, but maybe you didn't – let's go back and ask the question did you – did you remember it correctly? Is the truth a little different? And is there something we can learn about that story today?”
CHARLIE ROSE: What's an example of that?
GLADWELL: So one story, the opening episode, which airs on Thursday, is about a painting that was – in the 1870s, was most famous painting in all of England, and it was painted by a woman. One of the first prominent female painters in England. And the story is all about what happens to the painter, this woman, after the painting becomes so famous. And it's really a story about, what does it mean to be the first woman to penetrate an all-male world? And it’s the story about Hillary Clinton, right? And that's where I want to lead the listener to.
O’DONNELL: That's Elizabeth Thompson, the painter. And you also in that podcast, you talk about the Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard – Gillard, yes.
GLADWELL: The first female – if you look at previous examples of women who become the first head of state in their country, the examples are really a little bit sobering. It's not easy to be the first woman to take that. And so, if Hillary wins, I mean, my prediction is she's going to be in for a tough time in a way that I don't think people appreciate at this moment.
ROSE: Because?GLADWELL: Because there's a kind of – what happened to Gillard in Australia is very, very interesting. She gets elected, everyone says, “Wow, we final elected a woman.” And there is this kind of backlash. It unleashes this kind of torrent of suppressed misogyny and abuse. You cannot imagine what she goes through, and I tell the story of it.
ROSE: But is there a torrent of misogyny out there?
GLADWELL: I think there – I think there – it's already there. And I think there's a lot more that you can – that will happen once – if she gets elected.
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