An MSNBC guest claimed Friday that the criticisms of Senators Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins for voting “no” on GOP health reform efforts are due to their gender.
While McCain also ended up voting “no” on the skinny repeal bill, the Murkowski and Collins votes were known beforehand, making them more susceptible to pressure from their colleagues and President Trump.
Murkowski and Collins were also the only three Republican Senators to be against all three GOP proposals: repeal and replace, a partial repeal, and a “skinny” repeal.
But according to Elise Viebeck, a reporter for The Washington Post, the strength and tone of the criticism Murkowski and Collins received from their party could be due to them being women.
“Unfortunately, and some people would attribute this to gender, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski have received a backlash, an increasingly pointed backlash from men in their own party who are using the kind of rhetoric we’re used to now hearing from the White House,” Viebeck said.
“I feel a little uncomfortable saying some of the things on air,” she continued. “It’s just an interesting dynamic in the Republican Party because, Kasie, as you know, it’s a party that’s led by men, particularly in the Senate.”
Viebeck argued that Republican senators feel comfortable going after Murkowski and Collins “in a way that maybe they wouldn’t have gone after John McCain.”
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