ADVERTISEMENT

Casey DeSantis Is 'Lady MacBeth.' Jill Biden Is a Doctor. Got It?

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his wife Casey DeSantis (Photo by Octavio Jones/Getty Images)
May 23, 2023

Remember when comparing a politician's wife to Lady MacBeth was sexist?

That was before Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R.) was on the brink of running for president. Now, it's fair game to suggest his wife, Casey DeSantis—a former TV journalist, mother of three, and breast cancer survivor—is a schemer akin to Shakespeare's iconic lady villain.

In a profile of Casey DeSantis published Friday, Politico senior writer Michael Kruse quoted four anonymous GOP operatives and dirty trickster Roger Stone, a loyalist of former president Donald Trump, to make the comparison.

It was just a few months ago that Politico published an article arguing the "Lady MacBeth trope" reinforces "traditional gender roles that make any ambitious woman suspect."

Image

Nor was it so long ago that Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential run inspired a journalistic reckoning over comparing powerful women to Lady MacBeth.

Journalists deemed it sexist to call Michelle Obama "ungracious" and to question First Lady Jill Biden's status as a doctor (of education).

Wives of Democratic politicians are pathbreaking feminist icons.

But Republican "political wives" can be either victims of or nefarious influences on their husbands.

"What Is Susan Pompeo Really Up To?" Politico wondered of then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's wife in 2020.

"I asked Heidi whether she was thinking about killing herself," The Atlantic reported of the wife of Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) in 2018.

Former first lady Melania Trump was cast in both roles.

Meanwhile, only the finest conservative publications have reported on how Jennifer Siebel Newsom may be cashing in on her marriage to California's Democratic governor.