With the emergence of the testimony of Hope Hicks yesterday, we learned that at least three times Democratic Chairman Nadler was disrespectful to former White House Communications Director Hope Hicks by referring to her as “Ms. Lewandowski.
Here’s the transcript:
Nadler: Ms. Lewandowski?
Hicks: As a former senior adviser to the president, I’m following the instructions from the White House. …
Nadler: Ms. Lewandowski — sorry — Ms. Hicks, read the next two sentences also if you have it.
Hicks: Sure. The president directed that Sessions should give a speech publicly announcing — the dictated message went on to state. …
Nadler: Yeah. Ms. Lewandowski, I think, in reading this —
Hicks: My name is Ms. Hicks.
Nadler: I’m sorry, Ms. Hicks. I’m preoccupied.
Someone sent this to me last night suggesting that this might have to do with the public health problems Nadler had in New York a few weeks back.
But I tend to agree with Madeline Fry at the Washington Examiner, who suggests this was intentional:
Nadler called Hicks “Ms. Lewandowski” three times, before she finally objected. That’s not a slip, or a preoccupation. That’s a stunt.
It’s very specific and something that Nadler and his cronies joke about in the backrooms of Congress.
I also agree with Fry that if the shoes were on the other foot, the media would have been outraged about it. Instead they either ignored it or made excuses for Nadler:
If the parties were reversed, and Nadler were a Republican while Hicks were a Democrat, the media would’ve been floored. This would have had wall-to-wall coverage. Republican leaders would have been asked to answer for their chairman. Committee members would have been asked if the gavel should be stripped. Instead, mostly conservative outlets reported on the comments. The Daily Beast asserted it was an accident.
The Trump years have revealed a lot about the media’s hostility and how quick they are to jump into anything they can scandalize. There’s just no other good reason, in my humble opinion, to explain their silence on the issue.