Fox Contributor: Hillary Clinton Should Campaign On “The Victim Card" Rather Than “The Woman Card”

Mercedes Schlapp: Clinton Playing “The Woman Card” Is A “Pathetic Gimmick”

From the April 29 edition of Fox News' America's Newsroom:

Video file

MARTHA MACCALLUM (HOST): Clinton camp meanwhile jumping on this they responded with an actual woman card -- kinda looks like the Metro card that she had a little bit of trouble with a while back. Mercedes Schlapp is a former spokeswoman for President George W. Bush and a Fox News contributor, Karine Jean-Pierre is Senior Adviser and National Spokeswoman for MoveOn.org and former deputy camaign Manager for Martin O'Malley for president. I just want to read a little bit from this statement that the Clinton campaign put out when they released this woman card. "We've been hearing from supporters all over the country that they would like a woman card of their very own to proudly display on a fridge or pull out of their wallet every time they run into someone who says women who support Hillary must not be using our brains. Karine, good idea? Would you like a woman card in your wallet?

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE (GUEST): I would love a woman card in my wallet, absolutely. Might get one today. Well, look the Clinton campaign is embracing it as they should. They're leaning in, you know. Donald Trump said hey, she is playing the woman card, she said deal me in. I think it's a great way to show the contrast between the two candidates especially as a general election is coming closer and closer. And, also, you know, Donald Trump's negatives are 69 percent and they are going to continue to increase. And I think it's a dangerous game that Donald Trump is executing as well. When you have, when you are denigrating women and you continue to do that, and you're attacking Hillary Clinton. Attacking her is like attacking all women. And right now this primary--

MERCEDES SCHLAPP: That’s ridiculous.

MACCALLUM: I think he's just saying, -- he's saying that he thinks that, you know, the fact that she is a woman may be her strongest asset politically, and I don't disagree with you that they're going back to that well again because the war on women was very, very helpful to the Democratic Party in 2012. But I just wonder, Mercedes, as you deal with, you know, younger women now and look at the population out there. I think some people look at this woman card and say, “why do I need a woman card? I mean, I'm a person, I'm a voter. You know, there are a lot of things I am, but I certainly don't need to carry a woman card.”

MERCEDES SCHLAPP: Well, rather than the woman card I think that Hillary Clinton should basically create the victim card, which is trying to promote this idea that any way that Trump or even Bernie Sanders, when he's been critical of Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton has called Bernie Sanders sexist. And, so she uses this line, which I have to say is like old-fashioned feminism. It might work, right, with the older Democratic women that are rallying with Hillary Clinton, but I have to tell you. With younger women, with millennials, we saw this in the case of, like, New Hampshire for example, they supported Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton. Why? Because that gender card, that old-fashioned feminism doesn't necessarily work with these younger women. And, so, I just think that that woman card is just such a gimmick. It's a pathetic gimmick, and it just doesn't work.

Previously:

Trump’s “Women’s Card” Attack Against Hillary Clinton Comes From Right-Wing Media’s Playbook

Right-Wing Media Figures Praise Donald Trump's Sexist Attack On Hillary Clinton

Ingraham: Hillary Clinton “Always Wants To Play The Damsel In Distress”