Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden Made People’s ‘Skin Crawl’ on Cable News But Didn’t Make Ads About It

Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders released an ad featuring a woman on cable news saying that Sanders “makes my skin crawl,” a step that neither Joe Biden nor Hillary Clinton took when similar remarks were made about them on cable news.

On Thursday, the Sanders campaign released a three-and-a-half-minute social media ad — entitled “Why Women Are With Bernie” — that opens with a clip of MSNBC legal analyst Mimi Rocah’s July 21 appearance on MSNBC’s Up with David Gura in which she says“Bernie Sanders makes my skin crawl!”

The ad then features attempts to rebut the charge through supporter testimonials and “receipts” on Sanders’ policy positions.

Time will tell if the strategy works out, but it turns out at least two other candidates in presidential races missed opportunities to similarly highlight attacks on cable news that were related to dermal discomfort.

In 2016, Fox News correspondent Carley Shimkus reported that there were “rumors that Hillary’s creepy Grandma grin could lose her the election,” then read similar reactions from viewers who watched her performance at the Al Smith Dinner.

“Hillary’s smile makes my skin crawl,” said Shimkus, reading one viewer’s reaction on Twitter.

“A lot of people saying the same thing during the last debate as well,” co-host Heather Childers agreed, as a smiling Abby Huntsman added, “With the smile…”

Shimkus later read a tweet calling Clinton a “scumbag,” to which Childers responded, “We love Fox fans, they are so loyal.”

“Yeah, of course,” reporter Shimkus agreed.

Clinton, alas, missed the opportunity to build a campaign ad around this incident, as did then-Vice President Joe Biden when he was attacked during the 2012 reelection campaign.

Following his vice-presidential debate with then-candidate Paul Ryan, Biden endured an attack from political commentator Amy Holmes.

On the October 12, 2012 edition of CNN Newsroom, Holmes critiqued Biden’s performance at that debate by saying “I have to congratulate our viewers for sitting through those 90 uncomfortable minutes of Joe Biden’s antics, and went on to add that “we know that democracy isn’t free, Joe Biden made us pay last night. It was, oh God, it just made my skin crawl.”

And of course, Clinton herself wrote that her “skin crawled” when then-candidate Trump pursued her around the debate stage, a comment which also has not been turned into a campaign ad as yet.

Wath Sanders’ ad above, via Bernie Sanders for President.