It all started when David From asked for an assessment of certain people:
Wanted: smart, non-polemical assessment of emergence of Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan, Glenn Greenwald, Donald Trump Jr., Matt Taibbi, the Federalist group of writers etc. as a coherent and cohesive faction in American politics. They share more than just the same dislikes.
— David Frum (@davidfrum) October 29, 2020
Frum then made an observation about his own selective list:
I don't think it's a coincidence that this group includes no women. https://t.co/bAnVzHCE6w
— David Frum (@davidfrum) October 29, 2020
Oh really?
Prepare yourself for the inevitable, well deserved ratio.
— BayAreaFrau (@bayareahausfrau) October 29, 2020
There was more to Frum’s thread, but we’ll stop there and focus on the “no women” swipe:
I don't think it's a coincidence that you're ignoring the women.
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) October 29, 2020
This list of people I just named has no women. HOW ODD.
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) October 29, 2020
No, it's not a coincidence that YOU didn't name any women. https://t.co/QjL7tKiBZ4
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) October 29, 2020
The group doesn’t include women because you literally typed out the group yourself so you could knock down a straw man in a follow up tweet. Also, if we’re getting specific, you included “the Federalist group of writers” on your list, likely the most prominent of whom is a woman. https://t.co/7LqzwrT29i
— JERRY DUNLEAVY (@JerryDunleavy) October 29, 2020
should come as a surprise to the women at the federalist. https://t.co/zEzRWDp7L6
— tsar becket adams (@BecketAdams) October 29, 2020
And Frum got some helpful reminders (should he choose not to ignore them):
The Federalist staff is majority female, but OK. https://t.co/1doGpzh4L3
— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) October 29, 2020
The first hire @bdomenech and I made at @FDRLST was @MZHemingway, and from the very beginning through today, a majority of our staff have been women.
Apparently your magazine research skills are on par with your Iraq WMD verification skills. https://t.co/MKVVXltoGb
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) October 29, 2020
I and the majority of our staff are women, my dude. https://t.co/jOXmegrtWk
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) October 29, 2020
There are more women @FDRLST than there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. https://t.co/jOXmegrtWk
— Mollie (@MZHemingway) October 29, 2020
Two things are true at @FDRLST:
1. We believe men and women are different.
2. We employ a majority of the latter. https://t.co/tMFjS4VOy3
— Kylee Zempel (@kyleezempel) October 29, 2020
My husbands organization @FDRLST is overwhelmingly run and employed by women – to the point that if it were any other news organization there would be think pieces about the women’s power behind it.
Do better David. Stop lumping everything together for convenience and laziness. https://t.co/3nWhmOOeXX
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) October 29, 2020
Oh man, now we feel like we’ve ruined the forced narrative Frum was going for.
Even putting aside that the Federalist is mostly women, it's kind of funny to list a bunch of guys that have little in common and then get mad there are no women on the list you created. https://t.co/DySrLrZqxM
— Karol Markowicz (@karol) October 29, 2020
You put together your own subjective list and lamented that it didn't include any women despite the fact that the majority of the staff at the Federalist is women
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 29, 2020
Isn't it odd? Not really. You exclude @MZHemingway, @PressSec, @SaraCarterDC, @laralogan, @SharylAttkisson ? You excluded them intentionally.
— Terry (@IrishTea1) October 29, 2020
That was one of the most forced attempts to get a narrative rolling we’ve seen in a good while.
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