Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) had barely announced her exploratory committee to run for president in the 2020 race before Fox News decided to ramp up the type of ridiculous misogynistic attacks that they utilized so effectively whenever they discussed Hillary Clinton during her candidacy.
The right-wing propaganda outlet that is President Trump’s de-facto state broadcaster tried to provide cover for its misogyny by having it delivered by its female commentators but the substance of its criticism of Warren was that if a woman who wants to be president drinks a beer then it’s an obvious ploy to pander to male voters.
During a panel discussion of the issues women running for office face in terms of having to surmount higher standards regarding their physical appearance than men, it was a woman commentator who steered the conversation towards accusing Senator Warren of playing “the gender card” by showing a clip the Massachusetts senator had posted to Instagram that included a brief moment where the Senator paused to grab a beer from the fridge.
This seemingly routine action, something done by millions of women (and men) everyday may as well have been a capital offense judging from the scorn heaped upon Warren by two of the female commentators on the panel.
The idea that Warren was pandering to male voters in a demonstration of her essential ordinariness by proving that she drinks beer is a perfect example of the very issue the panel was discussing: the separate set of rules that female candidates are forced to play by that their male counterparts don’t even need to think about.
No one would ever question a male candidate’s motives for drinking a beer but, for Fox News at least, any woman who happens to be thirsty and decides they want to quaff a quick brew is subject to motivational scrutiny — particularly a woman with Warren’s intelligence and dedication to fighting for primacy of the average American over the interests of the ultra-wealthy beneficiaries of the Republican Trump administration’s largesse.
Another panelist called Warren was a “cheater and a liar” because of her claim of distant Native American heritage, a laughable accusation from a network that reliably defends President Trump, arguably the most lying and cheating political figure in American history.
Fox News’ attacks on Warren are par for the course on the highly-biased propaganda outlet for the GOP. You can expect similar treatment for any Democrat, female or male, who decides to run for president.
You can watch Fox News‘ opening assault on the presidential candidacy of Senator Elizabeth Warren in the video clip below.
Faulkner accusses Sen. Warren of "playing the gender card" by drinking *beer* on Instagram live to appeal to male voters
She then denies that sexism in politics is real because it's *other* people obsessing over women's looks, not the women themselves…
Nice. pic.twitter.com/PMmRKkn9fF
— Gabby Miller (@__gabbymiller) January 2, 2019
Follow Vinnie Longobardo on Twitter.
