Poor oppressed Kirsten Gillibrand. President Donald Trump tweeted about her, and now she’s been silenced, never to be heard from again. Her noble voice, stolen by this evil agent of the patriarchy, never to speak another word…
Wait, what’s that now?
She’s tweeting to her nearly nine hundred thousand followers? And MSNBC is promoting a video of her speaking?
And oh, here she is on CNN yesterday, talking to a national television audience:
Exclusive: @SenGillibrand says that President Trump “should resign” over sexual assault allegations, calling them “credible” and numerous.” https://t.co/quJhZ09vJi
— Christiane Amanpour (@camanpour) December 11, 2017
Huh. That doesn’t seem very silent to me.
But yet, here she is…tweeting, “We won’t be silenced.”
We won't be silenced. pic.twitter.com/Di2J4hvn1R
— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) December 12, 2017
And again:
You cannot silence me or the millions of women who have gotten off the sidelines to speak out about the unfitness and shame you have brought to the Oval Office. https://t.co/UbQZqubXZv
— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) December 12, 2017
Let’s get real. Trump’s tweet attacking Gillibrand was pretty classless and mean, but was she really silenced?
Lightweight Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a total flunky for Chuck Schumer and someone who would come to my office “begging” for campaign contributions not so long ago (and would do anything for them), is now in the ring fighting against Trump. Very disloyal to Bill & Crooked-USED!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 12, 2017
She’s certainly been criticized, and has gotten a deluge of harassment and other nonsense from Trump’s online troll hordes. And no small part of the mocking is in response to other liberals stampeding past each other to show the most outrage, claiming Trump was “slut-shaming” her, as Streiff pointed out earlier.
So yes, she’s been harassed and mocked, but that’s not the same as being silenced.
Seriously, Gillibrand is a United States Senator with national name ID who’s never had a problem finding a television camera. She’s far from silenced. If anything, we’re hearing more from her this week than we normally do.
Furthermore, Trump posts mean tweets all the time. But somehow he’s just not effective at silencing his many critics and foes.
The New York Times has a running list of the “People, Places, and Things Donald Trump Has Insulted on Twitter.” The most recent update was November 17, 2017, and scrolling through the list shows many media organizations — none of which have closed up shop and stopped commenting on his presidency — along with politicians, world leaders, and celebrities who he dismisses as “haters” and “losers” (not to mention “dumb,” “weak,” and “sad!”) but again, they’re all still walking around and talking. I didn’t see one name who Trump has been able to effectively “silence.”
Was Trump’s tweet about Gillibrand petty and mean? Sure.
Has she been silenced? No.
Is she enjoying reaping the benefits of this controversy, fundraising and raising her national profile as the 2020 presidential elections approach? Undoubtedly.
Go ahead and criticize the President, Senator Gillibrand. But whining about being “silenced” when you’re anything but is just playing the victim, and that’s weak. Sad!
Follow Sarah Rumpf on Twitter: @rumpfshaker.
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