Jane Sanders, wife of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., lashed out at Joy Reid on Wednesday after the MSNBC host said her husband could not be considered a mouthpiece for moral authority in the wake of sexual misconduct accusations leveled at powerful men.
“I didn’t answer your biased reporting about Bernie during the last 2 years @JoyAnnReid. But don’t ever use me to demean my husband,” Jane Sanders hit back at Reid on Twitter.
“I am very happy & very proud to be Bernie’s wife. Your perception couldn’t be more wrong. Have you ever talked with him? You’ve never spoken w/me,” she added.
I didn’t answer your biased reporting about Bernie during the last 2 years @JoyAnnReid. But don’t ever use me to demean my husband. I am very happy & very proud to be Bernie’s wife. Your perception couldn’t be more wrong. Have you ever talked with him? You’ve never spoken w/me. https://t.co/SZG7uV8cfO
— Jane O’Meara Sanders (@janeosanders) November 29, 2017
Sanders’ outburst was sparked by Reid lamenting the dearth of “national authority figures” in the U.S. after the avalanche of allegations made against men in positions of power acting inappropriately with women.
“[One] could argue that Barack Obama is, but even he can’t reach a percentage of the population that has become hardcore ethnonationalist,” Reid wrote. “Certainly the current president isn’t one.”
When another Twitter user suggested Sen. Sanders as a possible role model, Reid said he was “an incredibly dubious prospect.”
“Um… I get that he has a hardcore following, but his own attitudes toward women, from his weird early writings to his physical dismissal of women in his presence [including his own wife] make that an incredibly dubious prospect,” Reid continued.
Reid was referring to a 1972 essay the senator wrote for the Vermont Freeman, titled “Man-and-Woman,” in which he mentioned rape fantasies.
Furthermore, Sander’s wife was a fixture on the campaign trail as a trusted adviser to her husband as he contested the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination against eventual winner Hillary Clinton.
