Bernie Sanders, When Asked If Gender Remains an Obstacle for Women Politicians: ‘The Answer is Yes’
In a public radio interview, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders reiterated that he believes gender remains a “problem” for women politicians running for office in 2020, reprising the comments he said he made to 2020 rival Elizabeth Warren more than a year ago, which she recalls as him saying a woman can’t defeat President Donald Trump.
Speaking with New Hampshire Public Radio reporter Casey McDermott in a videotaped interview published on Sunday night (the relevant portion begins at the 44:00 mark), the Vermont senator initially balked at discussing the “private conversation” he had with Warren in December 2018. However, he then generally pushed back on the claim Warren made about his remarks.
“It is hard for me to imagine how anybody, in the year 2020, could not believe that a women could not become President of the United States,” Sanders said. He went to remind the reporter that he deferred announcing his 2016 candidacy until Warren confirmed she would not be running against Hillary Clinton. “I’ve always believed, and believe today, that a woman can be elected President of the United States.”
Pointing to Clinton’s large popular vote victory in 2016, as well as President Barack Obama’s two presidential victories and the mayoral re-election of Pete Buttigieg, Sanders said: “The world has changed. Those people who think a woman can’t be elected, you’re dead wrong. Those who think a gay person can’t be elected, you’re dead wrong. Those who think an African-American person can’t be elected, you’re dead wrong.”
McDermott, however, seemed to note a gap in Sanders’ answers and followed up with a direct question about women candidates’ electability: “Do you think that female candidates experience, have a different experience running for president and do you think that gender is still an obstacle for female politicians?”
“Look, I, the answer is yes,” Sanders responded, “but I think everybody has their own sets of problems.” He went on cite his advanced age of 78 and Buttigieg’s relatively young age as other, similar “problems” that campaigns must deal with. “Everyone brings some negatives, if you like. I would just hope this much, that the American people look at the totality of a candidate, not their gender, not at their sexuality, not at their age, everything. Nobody is perfect, there ain’t no perfect candidate out there.”
Some Warren supporters seized on Sanders’ remarks as being thinly veiled sexism as well.
Warren backers already seizing on Sanders’ wording, saying gender or sexuality (in Pete’s case) isn’t a “problem.” Just goes to show there is nothing to be gained by Warren or Sanders by dwelling on this disagreement. https://t.co/HRQCkzN46V
— Amanda Becker (@AmandaBecker) January 19, 2020
Sanders’s communications director, Mike Casca sought to sarcastically dismiss any outrage over Sanders’ NHPR interview by slapping a mock “breaking” tag to a tweet that clearly tried to frame his boss’s comments as simply stating obvious facts.
breaking: @BernieSanders observes that sexism, ageism and homophobia exist in america and will be weaponized by donald trump in the general election.https://t.co/1RXo7NRyXH
— mike casca (@cascamike) January 19, 2020
For here part, Warren maintained her stance that she doesn’t want to discuss the controversy over the meeting anymore, twice refusing to respond on Sunday afternoon when the press corps traveling with her alerted her to Sanders’s latest comments.
In Des Moines, a reporter just read Elizabeth Warren part of Bernie Sanders’s quote about gender — “Everybody has their own set of problems” — and she had zero interest in responding. “I have no further comment on this,” Warren said twice.
— Ruby Cramer (@rubycramer) January 19, 2020
Watch video above, via New Hampshire Public Radio.
