screenshot of Paul Rand shushing female reporter
By Maya Dusenbery • @mayadusenbery • 9 years ago

Watch: Senator Rand Paul literally shushes female TV interviewer

In case you’re in need of some rage to fuel your Tuesday, watch this video of an interview Senator Rand Paul did with CNBC Anchor Kelly Evans yesterday. Pressed by Evans on the consequences of his proposal to give companies a temporary tax holiday, Paul literally shushed her and told her to “calm down a bit.” 

Full transcript here.

I’m with Melissa: I cannot imagine Paul doing this to a male interviewer — at least not in such a patronizing way. And I also can’t imagine male anchor apologizing to a defensive and cranky guest, which Evans does three times after his outburst. Despite this conciliatory tone, at the end of the interview, Paul even mansplains journalism to her: “I think if we do this again, you need to start out with a little more objectivity going into the interview.” Except it’s clear that by “objectivity” he really means “deference.”

St. Paul, MN

Maya Dusenbery is executive director in charge of editorial at Feministing. She is the author of the forthcoming book Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick (HarperOne, March 2018). She has been a fellow at Mother Jones magazine and a columnist at Pacific Standard magazine. Her work has appeared in publications like Cosmopolitan.com, TheAtlantic.com, Bitch Magazine, as well as the anthology The Feminist Utopia Project. Before become a full-time journalist, she worked at the National Institute for Reproductive Health. A Minnesota native, she received her B.A. from Carleton College in 2008. After living in Brooklyn, Oakland, and Atlanta, she is currently based in the Twin Cities.

Maya Dusenbery is an executive director of Feministing and author of the forthcoming book Doing Harm on sexism in medicine.

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