Morning Joe Notices When Liz Cheney Is Called a “Bored Housewife”
A week ago Liz Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, announced that she would run for Senator of Wyoming in 2014. Cheney’s decision has caused a stir within the GOP since this means that she is challenging Republican Sen. Mike Enzi who has served as senator since 1997. Ed Rollins, a GOP strategist who is unhappy with Cheney’s decision, told the The Hill:
I like Liz, I’ve been a longtime friend of her father’s, but it’ll be portrayed as they’ve been away from the state a long time, a housewife who’s kind of bored who moved back to Wyoming after a long time to run for the Senate.
Rollins’ statement caught the attention of the Morning Joe crew to which Mika Brzezinski asked in disbelief, “Why’d he do that?” Joe Scarborough retorted, “She’s not a bored housewife,” a term that caused Brzezinski to cringe. Michael Steele, a political analyst on the show, weighed in and didn’t hesitate to call Rollins’ comment as sexist. Furthermore, Sam Stein, a political reporter for the Huffington Post, also agreed saying, “I think it was a stupid comment. I’m pretty sure he would want to take it back for the sexist undertones.” Watch the clip below.
While we are pleased that the “Morning Joe” noticed the sexist comment, it was somewhat disappointing how quickly they moved passed the remark to discuss the carpet-bagging claim as a more harsh accusation. It would have been great to hear Morning Joe’s team explain – even just briefly – why calling Cheney a “bored housewife” is sexist. Maybe something along the lines that you’d never call a male candidate a “bored househusband” or that Cheney’s political resume has a lot more to offer than her accomplishments as a wife?
But we give credit where credit is due and applaud the “Morning Joe” on seeing the remark for what it is: a sexist insult.
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Published by Michelle Van Veen on 07/23/2013