The press is really trying to put the Democratic Party nomination to bed, on the eve of what might be a tricky vote in California for likely party nominee and press favorite Hillary Clinton. At a press conference in Emeryville, Calif., Monday, New York Times reporter Yamiche Alcindor actually asked Bernie Sanders if he was being sexist for staying in the race.
Interrupting Sanders’ attempts to let another attendee ask a question, Alcindor jumped in with this gem: “What do you say to women who say that you staying in the race is sexist because it’s getting in the way of what could be the first female president?”
Sanders responded: “Is that a serious question?”
“Yes, it is a serious question,” Ms. Alcindor responded.
Sanders’ slightly flabbergasted response: “...Your question implies that any woman....who is running for president is by definition the best candidate. So any woman who runs? To say that it is sexist, that any -- so if Hillary Clinton runs for president, is your point that it is sexist for any man to oppose her?”
“No, my point is if she has more delegates than you...[unintelligible]
Alcindor’s Twitter feed shows her in defensive mode after some serious pushback from Sanders supporters and others who found her question embarrassing:
Tough day for many
@BernieSanders supporters who are mad at lots of media orgs, me for asking a fair Q, HRC for having delegates & DNC.
For “fair,” substitute “bizarre,” and she’d be close.
Alcindor also seemed bothered by Bernie not bowing to fellow media outlets CBS and Associated Press, whose delegate count suggested Hillary had acquired enough delegates to clinch the nomination:
@BernieSanders spoke for about 47 minutes at San Francisco rally and didn't mention HRC being named presumptive nominee.
It’s not the first time Alcindor has not so gently tried to ease Bernie Sanders out of Hillary Clinton’s path to the Democratic nomination. In May she wrote:
Raising the prospect of lasting fissures in the party, Senator Bernie Sanders rebuffed pressure on Tuesday to rein in his supporters after they disrupted a weekend Democratic convention in Nevada, throwing chairs and later threatening the state chairwoman in a fight over delegates. The uproar comes as Hillary Clinton is struggling to turn her and the party’s attention to the fall....The fight in Nevada underscored the determination of Mr. Sanders’s supporters to undermine Mrs. Clinton’s all-but-certain march to the nomination.
