On the April 10 edition of Fox News' Your World, discussing Sir Elton John's April 9 fundraiser for Sen. Hillary Clinton during which John stated that he was “amazed by the misogynistic attitudes of some of the people in this country,” author and radio host Marc Rudov said, “This is a gynocracy. ... The reason that Hillary is losing is because people don't like her. That's all it is.” Fox News legal analyst and University of Washington associate professor of law Lis Wiehl responded: “But Marc, it's -- you're buying into that old thing. It's the old thing, Marc, of if a woman is aggressive, then she's, again, the B-word. If a man is aggressive, he's just assertive and claiming his own.” Rudov later said: “This is absolutely silly, Lis. You know what? The woman is not called a B-word because she's assertive and aggressive; she's called a B-word because she acts like one.”
Also during the segment, Wiehl asserted: "[T]he fundraiser that [Sen. John] McCain was at when he was asked by somebody at the fundraiser, 'How can we beat the B-word?' I mean, can you imagine if they had used the N-word? Or the other B-word for a man who doesn't know who his father is? Can you imagine the outrage that would have happened there? You go on the Internet -- you look at Internet sites that say, you know, 'Life's a “B” -- don't vote for one,' or 'Hillary, you shouldn't be running for president, you should be running the dishwasher,' or 'Hillary, stop running for president and make me a sandwich,' or the T-shirts that say -- this is -- I'm not making this stuff up. It's out there." Host Neil Cavuto responded: “Who came up with the making the sandwich one? 'Cause that's pretty clever.”
Earlier in the segment, Rudov asserted of John's comments: “Well, this is exactly why men shouldn't allow the vagina monologue to become a dialogue. Hillary Clinton, who's living by the gender sword, is going to be dying by the gender sword. She sends in Elton John to do her hissing when she's having a catfight with America.”
As Media Matters for America documented, during the March 10 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, Bill O'Reilly hosted Rudov to discuss “What is the downside of having a woman become the president of the United States?” Rudov's initial response to the question was, “You mean besides the PMS and the mood swings, right?” O'Reilly responded: “But guys have mood swings, Marc. And you know they have other control issues, as we just heard with [former New York] Governor [Eliot] Spitzer and we saw with various presidents. So come on now, let's be fair.” Rudov then asserted: “Well, you know, I'm joking. Of course, the main problem I have is if a woman has a female agenda. If she doesn't have a female agenda, if she just wants to be an executive for all the people, then all I care about is if she's qualified. And I have no qualms about having a female president. But if we take Hillary Clinton, she specifically does have a female agenda.” Rudov later added: “But Hillary embodies the female agenda. She wants to be the feminist in chief. She represents women. It says so on her website. And a lot of women are voting for her because she's a woman.” Rudov has also claimed that "[w]hen Barack Obama speaks, men hear, 'Take off for the future.' And when Hillary Clinton speaks, men hear, 'Take out the garbage.' "
Further, on the March 26 edition of The O'Reilly Factor, when guest host Laura Ingraham asked Rudov to explain “why men feel emasculated today,” Rudov stated: “You know, you started talking about female happiness before, would women be happier and why our men are depressed. Men are depressed, and it's their own fault, because men are allowing women to take over the world,” adding: “You know, female happiness is an oxymoron. When you go to the checkout in the supermarket, just look at the titles on the women's magazines. How many of them presume women to be happy? Not one. They're all saying, the key to happiness is more jewelry, more shoes, more liposuction and bigger implants.”
From the April 10 edition of Fox News' Your World with Neil Cavuto:
CAVUTO: All right. To New York City, the gender card in play against Hillary Clinton's camp. Elton John with these choice words at a Clinton fundraiser last night.
JOHN [video clip]: I never ceased to be amazed at the misogynistic attitude of some of the people in this country. And I say, to hell with them.
CAVUTO: All righty. Marc Rudov says that Elton is way off-base. He hosts the Marc Rudov radio show. Lis Wiehl says Marc is plain wrong and that Elton is right. So, Marc, what do you find offensive?
RUDOV: Well, this is exactly why men shouldn't allow the vagina monologue to become a dialogue. Hillary Clinton, who's living by the gender sword, is going to be dying by the gender sword. She sends in Elton John to do her hissing when she's having a catfight with America. It's ridiculous for anybody to throw around the misogyny word. When she was the presumptive nominee, we never heard anything about misogyny. But when things go badly -- when she's not getting what she thinks she's entitled to -- all of a sudden it's misogyny. And that's just as bad as throwing around the racism word.
CAVUTO: What do you think?
WIEHL: “Hissing,” Marc? I mean, that sounds kind of women-hating right there, my dear.
RUDOV: Does it?
WIEHL: But let's look at the evidence. I mean, let's look at the fundraiser that McCain was at when he was asked by somebody at the fundraiser, “How can we beat the B-word?” I mean, can you imagine if they had used the N-word? Or the other B-word for a man who doesn't know who his father is? Can you imagine the outrage that would have happened there? You go on the Internet -- you look at Internet sites that say, you know, “Life's a 'B' -- don't vote for one,” or “Hillary, you shouldn't be running for president, you should be running the dishwasher,” or “Hillary, stop running for president and make me a sandwich,” or the T-shirts that say -- this is -- I'm not making this stuff up. It's out there.
CAVUTO: Really?
WIEHL: It's out there.
CAVUTO: Who came up with the making the sandwich one? 'Cause that's pretty clever.
WIEHL: It's on Facebook. It's on Facebook.
CAVUTO: All right. So, Marc, you hear this stuff, right?
RUDOV: That's mild compared to what they say about me, Neil.
CAVUTO: Well, actually, it is, Marc. It is -- it is mild.
WIEHL: Well -- that's another story.
CAVUTO: But if Elton John is playing into that view, you think he alienated people last night.
RUDOV: Well, not only that -- he's totally wrong. This is a gynocracy. Women have all the rights and privileges. The reason that Hillary is losing is because people don't like her. That's all it is.
WIEHL: But Marc, it's -- you're buying into that old thing. It's the old thing, Marc, of if a woman is aggressive, then she's, again, the B-word. If a man is aggressive, he's just assertive and claiming his own. I mean, the woman can't win. And also, look, when you've got Saturday Night Live --
RUDOV: That's not true.
WIEHL: When you've got Saturday Night Live several weeks ago, you know, pillorying what was going on in the media and saying, look, you know, “Obama, do you want a pillow?” and really making fun of the fact that Hillary has had a tough time, a tough go of this -- that's Saturday Night Live. Come on, Marc.
RUDOV: I'm sure that the Joint Chiefs of Staff can't wait to report to a commander whose representative is Elton John.
WIEHL: Oh, gee --
RUDOV: This is absolutely silly, Lis. You know what? The woman is not called a B-word because she's assertive and aggressive; she's called a B-word because she acts like one.
WIEHL: What? What?
RUDOV: If a man is assertive and aggressive --
WIEHL: Wait a second. Marc Rudov, wait just a cotton --
RUDOV: Yeah, Lis Wiehl.
WIEHL: -- that is crazy. How can you say that? How can you call her a B-word? You don't know the woman. She doesn't act like that to you. That is just wrong and outrageous. And you -- you, Marc Rudov, are exhibit A of exactly what Elton John has been talking about.
RUDOV: No, Lis, thank you for repeating my whole name three times --
WIEHL: It's not a plug, Marc.
RUDOV: -- but the fact of the matter is, if a man -- if a man is assertive and aggressive and nobody likes him, he won't get any results. So being assertive -- there's nothing wrong with that if you're a woman. But if you're assertive and nobody likes you, you're going to get nowhere. And that's really what it is. There aren't any male executives who are disliked who are effective.
WIEHL: Marc, you know as well as I do that that label is never attached -- the other B-word is never attached to a guy who's just being assertive and running for something. It's been attached -- you go on the Internet, you look at the T-shirts out there that say, you know, “Hillary should have married OJ. We would have been all better.” There are T-shirts out there that say that, Marc.
[crosstalk]
CAVUTO: But that's not the majority.
RUDOV: Lis, there's no misogyny, there's no misogyny --
WIEHL: That's not the majority, but Elton John [unintelligible] that some people say that --
RUDOV: She's dying by the gender sword, and that's all that it is -- that's all there is to it.
CAVUTO: All right, can we get back to the sandwich analogy? That one --
WIEHL: You like the sandwich? Or the running the dishwasher?
CAVUTO: That one I could understand. All right, thank you, guys, very much.