Echoing other media personalities, Silverman attacked Sen. Clinton's voice

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published

While discussing the first Democratic presidential debate, 630 KHOW-AM co-host Craig Silverman criticized U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-NY) voice by saying, "[S]he has a tendency when she gets a little agitated to come up with the voice that sends every man to put his shoulders up around his ears and say, 'What did I do? And how can I get away from you?' " His comments parroted those of other media figures who have criticized the tone and volume of Clinton's voice.

Co-host Craig Silverman of 630 KHOW-AM said on the April 27 broadcast of The Caplis & Silverman Show that when U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) “gets a little agitated” her voice “sends every man to put his shoulders up around his ears and say, 'What did I do? And how can I get away from you?' ” As Colorado Media Matters has noted, other media figures also have focused on Clinton's mannerisms rather than the substance of her words and policy agenda.

Silverman made his remarks about Clinton's voice while discussing the first Democratic presidential debate with guest co-host George Brauchler. Before disparaging her voice, Silverman said Clinton “seemed presidential.”

From the April 27 broadcast of 630 KHOW-AM's The Caplis & Silverman Show:

SILVERMAN: Did you watch that debate? Have you read about it? I thought it was terrific. And you know who had a very good night? Hillary Clinton.

BRAUCHLER: Really?

SILVERMAN: She seemed presidential; she kept control of her voice, because -- and I'm not one to criticize people's voices -- but she has a tendency when she gets a little agitated to come up with the voice that sends every man to put his shoulders up around his ears and say, “What did I do? And how can I get away from you?”

As Colorado Media Matters and Media Matters for America have documented, numerous commentators repeatedly have criticized Clinton's voice rather than focusing on her policy agenda. For instance, before playing a clip of Clinton speaking on the March 29 edition of CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck, host and Good Morning America contributor Glenn Beck warned: “Brace yourself, men of America.” Beck also suggested that men in particular find Clinton's voice to be “grating.” Following the clip, Beck -- who has referred to Clinton as a "stereotypical bitch" -- said, “I agreed with everything she just said, but I just want to kill myself.” Other examples:

  • Colorado Community Newspapers writer Curt Dale asserted in his March 29 column that Clinton's voice is “screeching” and she is “frequently out of control when caught in a difficult situation, totally disrespectful of anyone who challenges her Senator First Ladyship.”
  • On March 24, Time.com Washington editor Ana Marie Cox wrote in a post on Time.com's political weblog, Swampland, that Clinton was “eerily LOUD” and summarized Clinton's position as: “YOU CAN TELL I CARE ABOUT HEALTH CARE BECAUSE I AM SHOUTING ALL THE TIME.”
  • In her March 7 column about Clinton's speech marking a Selma, Alabama, civil rights march, Kathleen Parker, a syndicated columnist with the Washington Post Writers Group, wrote that “Clinton's voice sends mannequins into a fetal curl.”
  • On February 2, the National Journal's Hotline On Call review of Clinton's speech at the Democratic National Committee Winter Meeting suggested that her "[v]oice climbed into a yell five times" during her speech, without noting any other candidates' yelling.
  • Discussing Clinton's victory speech during MSNBC's election coverage on November 7, 2006, co-anchor Chris Matthews told Republican pollster Frank Luntz that Clinton gave a “barn-burner speech, which is harder to give for a woman; it can grate on some men when they listen to it -- fingernails on a blackboard.”
  • On the August 10, 2006, edition of Glenn Beck, radio host Roe Conn said of Clinton's voice: “See, there's the thing about that sound -- there's sort of that shrill kind of thing,” adding, “I don't think that America is ready for six or eight months of that on the campaign trail. ... [S]he's constantly yelling at us like we're 4-year-olds.”
  • On the February 10, 2006, edition of MSNBC's Hardball, Scarborough Country host Joe Scarborough asserted that “there is a shrillness in Hillary that comes out on TV whenever she gets excited about something.” Referring to a speech Clinton gave “a year ago,” Scarborough added: "[E]very time her voice goes up, she gets very shrill."