Elizabeth Warren Addressed the Question of Whether or Not a Woman “Can Be President”
Just about 45 minutes into Tuesday night's Democratic debate, moderators addressed the elephant in the room: the question of whether or not a woman can win the election.
The issue was brought up after reports surfaced claiming Bernie Sanders told Warren he did not believe a woman could win. Sanders has repeatedly denied that he ever said it. When the alleged private exchange was brought up during the last Democratic debate before the Iowa caucuses, Warren responded, "Of course a woman can be president."
"Bernie is my friend and I am not here to try to fight with Bernie, but look, this question about whether or not a woman can be president has been raised and it’s time to attack it head-on," she said. "And I think the best way to talk about who can win is by looking at everyone’s winning record."
She continued: "So, can a woman beat Donald Trump? Look at the men on this stage: collectively they have lost 10 elections. The only people on this stage who have won every single election that they’ve been in are the women, Amy [Klobuchar] and me. And the only person on this stage who has beaten an incumbent Republican anytime in the past 30 years is me."
.@ewarren: "Can a woman beat Donald Trump? Look at the men on this stage. Collectively, they have lost 10 elections. The only people on this stage who have won every single election that they have been in are the women: Amy and me." #DemocraticDebate pic.twitter.com/2QjVcgzh0k
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) January 15, 2020
Sanders agreed with Warren's point that a woman can be president, and repeated a point he made in a statement to CNN, that Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by 3 million votes. "How could anybody in a million years not believe that a woman could become president of the United States?" he said.
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The question of a woman's electability has always been a hot topic, exacerbated of course by the 2016 election after which Hillary Clinton spoke out about the bias she received as a woman running for president. It's a thorny, complex issue to face, but one that deserves repeated attention especially as record numbers of women, both Democrat and Republican, continue to enter races around the country.
Despite the back and forth over the the alleged meeting, Warren's point (reiterated by everyone on stage) stood — women are electable in any public office.
