Rep. Elise Stefanik has a well deserved reputation as one of the most reasonable, well spoken Republican politicians out there. But she’s young and female — and did we mention Republican? — so ABC News chief political analyst Matthew Dowd wants to tear her down.
Since he can’t do it on intellectual merits, he’s opted to go this route:
Elise stefanik is a perfect example of why just electing someone because they are a woman or a millennial doesn’t necessarily get you the leaders we need.
— Matthew Dowd (@matthewjdowd) November 13, 2019
Class act, that Matthew Dowd.
What is the evidence she was elected because she is a woman other than that she is a woman?
— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) November 13, 2019
You are missing the point.
— Matthew Dowd (@matthewjdowd) November 13, 2019
Seems like Matt’s the one missing the point. The point being that he’s a sexist jerk.
— Jake Wilkins (@JakeWilkns) November 13, 2019
— Chris Martin (@chrisjdmartin) November 13, 2019
Wtf is this https://t.co/xHp3ePUDBR
— Elliott Schwartz (@elliosch) November 13, 2019
what is wrong with you?
— Andrew Wagner (@andrewwagner) November 13, 2019
I do not think she consistently wins NY-21 by double digit margins because her district wants to make a demographic statement; her views align with her district which also went for Trump by double digits.
This is an astonishingly bad statement from an “independent” analyst. https://t.co/ah47RVgfsQ
— Kristen Soltis Anderson (@KSoltisAnderson) November 13, 2019
Recommended
You can disagree with her positions but get out of here with this “millennial woman” nonsense.
— Kristen Soltis Anderson (@KSoltisAnderson) November 13, 2019
My gosh this account has just become sexist take central over the last few weeks. Start reading your tweets out loud to someone before you send them.
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) November 13, 2019
This is a perfect example of sexism. https://t.co/wTEFqlDxnq
— Sean Agnew (@seanagnew) November 13, 2019
Wow. That's nasty. And ABC is not in a position to be passing judgement on anyone considering they killed a story on a pedophile which, if allowed to air, could have saved many young women from being abused.
— Nancy's Dentures ??? (@velcra820) November 13, 2019
You’re a disgusting piece of garbage!
— Carie (@carrie1525) November 13, 2019
This from @matthewjdowd is either media bias, or sexism, or both.
And if you think those are the reasons @EliseStefanik was elected (3x), you either don't know her or you don't know her district (or both).@ABC should prove they are not sexist or biased by revoking his title. https://t.co/dIVAu7OFA0
— Bob Honold (@BobbyHonold) November 13, 2019
Dowd has become a very bad person or an ill one. I cannot say which. https://t.co/mzaQRAMcl1
— Nathan Wurtzel (@NathanWurtzel) November 13, 2019
Stefanik’s GOP colleague Mark Meadows also defended Stefanik:
Elise did a great job laying out the facts. And, not least of all, this comment is reprehensible. https://t.co/Rf6CqbRtmR
— Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) November 13, 2019
His words were appreciated, though Stefanik is quite capable of defending herself, too. We’ll give her the last word:
Thx @RepMarkMeadows ! It’s a good thing I wasn’t raised to measure my self-worth or professional work based on tweets from self-important @MSNBC commentators like Dowd (who is he again?)! I earn support from #NY21 voters bc of my focus on keeping my promises & delivering #Results https://t.co/o3BvcWh1NQ
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) November 13, 2019
***
Update:
Hold up, guys. Matthew’s not a jackass; he’s just misunderstood:
I think people are misunderstand my tweet. So I will delete. I am saying just saying we need more millennials or more women isn’t going to solve the problem of needing more leaders with integrity. Vote integrity no matter what. https://t.co/xdUdgQVyaV
— Matthew Dowd (@matthewjdowd) November 13, 2019
Sure, Jan.
Matt, you deleted your disgusting tweet not because it was misunderstood, but because Americans correctly saw it for what it was: completely unacceptable. https://t.co/JCQjVRJ8EM
— Leonardo Alcivar (@alcivar) November 13, 2019
So now you're saying Elise doesn't have integrity on top of saying she was elected as a token? Maybe put the shovel down.
— Lyndsey Fifield (@lyndseyfifield) November 13, 2019
***
Update:
He’s so sorry, you guys.
Hey @EliseStefanik I just want to apologize for a tweet that is being misinterpreted. I didn’t mean to suggest you were elected only because you were a woman or a millennial. I deleted the tweet.
— Matthew Dowd (@matthewjdowd) November 13, 2019
He deleted the tweet. So no harm, no foul, right?
Well, all the same, just to be safe:
Now delete your account https://t.co/sjGMeC0bSg
— JERRY DUNLEAVY (@JerryDunleavy) November 13, 2019
***
Update:
Anyone up for a quick flashback?
? https://t.co/IXUF259IYi pic.twitter.com/8KymCuM91a
— JERRY DUNLEAVY (@JerryDunleavy) November 13, 2019
So yeah. Dowd’s full of it.
***
Related:
Join the conversation as a VIP Member