In an election cycle that has been startlingly unusual, barely a day passes without someone saying something that blows up on Twitter or elsewhere in the media. This weekend was no different, with two accomplished women, feminist icon Gloria Steinem and Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, opining on young women supporting Bernie Sanders.
During a Friday night interview on Real Time With Bill Maher discussing the Democratic primary, Steinem said young women support Bernie because they want attention from boys.
“Women are more for [Clinton] than men are...First of all, women get more radical as we get older, because we experience...Not to over-generalize, but...men tend to get more conservative because they gain power as they age, women get more radical because they lose power as they age, " Steinem said.
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"And, when you’re young, you’re thinking, where are the boys? The boys are with Bernie...”
Show host Maher quickly pointed out that he couldn't say something like that, because chalking young women’s politics up to their desire to meet boys is a profoundly sexist thing to do.
Then, during a Clinton rally in Concord, NH, on Saturday morning, Albright pulled out her famous, "There's a special place in hell for women who don't help other women" line (that Taylor Swift is also fond of) when talking about women who are supporting Bernie Sanders instead of Hillary Clinton.
As the race for the White House heats up, rhetoric from all sides is heating up. So much so that Senator Sanders delivered a straightforward message on CNN for any of his supporters (a.k.a. Bernie Bros) who engage in online harassment, saying "We don't want that crap." Sanders’ rapid response director also asked the senator’s supporters to find their chill, tweeting:
if you support @berniesanders, please follow the senator's lead and be respectful when people disagree with you.
— mike casca (@cascamike) January 26, 2016
Steinem, for her part, offered up and apology and clarification on Sunday morning with the following post on Facebook:
In a case of talk-show Interruptus, I misspoke on the Bill Maher show recently, and apologize for what's been...
Posted by Gloria Steinem on Sunday, February 7, 2016
Hillary Clinton appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday and described Albright’s comment as a “light-hearted, but very pointed, remark.”
“Madeline has been saying this for many, many years,” Clinton said. “She believes it firmly, in part because she knows what a struggle it has been and she understands the struggle is not over.”