ADVERTISEMENT

CBS Asks Elizabeth Warren if Sexism Played Role in McConnell Reprimand

April 17, 2017

CBS News correspondent Chip Reid asked Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass) whether Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky) reprimanded her in February out of sexism.

McConnell said Warren violated Senate rules after she quoted a letter opposing Jeff Sessions, then-nominee for attorney general, and castigated a fellow lawmaker. The letter was from Martin Luther King Jr.'s widow Coretta Scott King, who opposed Sessions for a judgeship in the 1980s.

"Do you think there was some sexism involved here?" Reid asked on "CBS Sunday Morning."

Warren dodged the question, returning to criticism of Sessions, and Reid repeated the query.

"Do you think they treated male senators differently than you?" he asked.

"All I can say is the next day, four men stood up and read exactly the same letter and they all got to finish," Warren said to Reid, according to Mediaite.

McConnell created a now-infamous line in reference to Warren when he said of the incident, "She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted." The phrasing created a rallying cry for progressives and feminists about standing up to authority.

Warren also responded to a question by Reid about her 2020 presidential ambitions, saying she is not thinking about that.

Published under: CBS , Elizabeth Warren