GOP 2016 Contenders Are Courting Erick Erickson, The Anti-Gay Pundit With A “Pattern Of Being Disrespectful To Women”
Written by Eric Hananoki
Published
Numerous Republican presidential candidates are attending the 2015 RedState Gathering hosted by conservative pundit Erick Erickson. Erickson has said males should be “dominant” over females, claimed women should be “at home” while men bring “home the bacon,” labeled Michelle Obama a “marxist harpy wife” and Justice David Souter a “goat fucking child molester,” argued LGBT people are “on the road to hell,” and wondered when Americans would raid legislators' houses and beat them to “a bloody pulp.”
INDEX
Erickson Is Hosting His Annual RedState Gathering With GOP Presidential Candidates
Erickson Has Been Called Out By Colleagues For “Being Disrespectful To Women”
Erickson's Fringe Rhetoric: SC Justice A “Goat Fucking Child Molester,” When Are We Going To Beat Legislators To “A Bloody Pulp?”
Erickson Is Hosting His Annual RedState Gathering With GOP Presidential Candidates
Erickson Is Hosting The 2015 RedState Gathering. Erickson is hosting his annual RedState Gathering (RSG) on August 6-9 in Atlanta, Georgia. The gathering, which was first held in 2009, is billed by Erickson as “a very grassroots event. The speakers cover their costs, which helps keep your cost low. They take questions, which will happen this year. But most of all, you get to see and hear from them up close.” Conservative organizations such as the Charles Koch Institute, FreedomWorks, Heritage Action for America, and the College Republican National Committee are sponsoring the event. [RedState.com, 5/12/15; Townhall.com, accessed 7/23/15]
RSG Will Feature Most Of The 2016 Presidential Field. The 2015 event is billed as “Vision 2020: The Next President Will Be Here.” Among the confirmed speakers are presidential candidates Chris Christie, Donald Trump, Scott Walker, Carly Fiorina, Bobby Jindal, Rick Perry, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Mike Huckabee, and Ted Cruz. [Townhall.com, accessed 7/23/15; RedState.com, 7/27/15]
Erickson's Sexism: Males Should Be “Dominant,” “Feminazis” Are “Ugly,” Michelle Obama Is A “Marxist Harpy Wife”
Erickson: “When You Look At Biology, Look At The Natural World ... The Male Typically Is The Dominant Role.” During an appearance on Fox Business, Erickson complained about an increase in American female breadwinners and argued that males should be dominant in human societies because “the male typically is the dominant role” in “the natural world”:
LOU DOBBS: Erick, your thoughts on this study and what it portends?
ERICKSON: Lou, I'm so used to liberals telling conservatives that they're anti-science. But this is -- liberals who defend this and say it's not a bad thing are very anti-science.
When you look at biology, look at the natural world, the roles of a male and female in society, and the other animals, the male typically is the dominant role. The female, it's not antithesis, or it's not competing, it's a complementary role. We as people in a smart society have lost the ability to have complimentary relationships in nuclear families, and it's tearing us apart.
And what I find interesting in the survey is that three-quarters of the people surveyed recognize that having moms as the primary breadwinner is bad for kids and bad for marriage, and reality shows us that's the truth. [Fox Business, Lou Dobbs Tonight, 5/29/13, via Media Matters]
Erickson: “Kids Most Likely Will Do Best In Households Where They Have A Mom At Home Nurturing Them While Dad Is Out Bringing Home The Bacon.” Erickson wrote in a May 2013 Redstate.com post responding to criticism of his previous comments:
We should not kid ourselves or scream so loudly in politically correct outrage to drown the truth -- kids most likely will do best in households where they have a mom at home nurturing them while dad is out bringing home the bacon. [Redstate.com, 5/30/13, via Media Matters]
Erickson: “I Understand That Some Women Believe They Can Have It All, And That's The Crux Of The Problem.” [WSB, The Erick Erickson Show, 5/30/13, via Media Matters]
Erickson Called Michelle Obama A “Marxist Harpy Wife.” From a March 13, 2008, blog post headlined, “Is Obama Shagging Hookers Behind the Media's Back?”
I assume not. I assume that Obama's marxist harpy wife would go Lorena Bobbit on him should he even think about it, but I ask the question to make one simple point: Barack Obama, like Elliott Spitzer, is a creation of the liberal media and, as a result, could be a serial killing transvestite and the media would turn a blind eye. [Erickontheradio.com, 3/13/08; Media Matters, 3/16/10]
Erickson: “There Is No Reason” For Anyone To Study Women Or Gender In College “Unless They Want To Be A Professional Victim.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 1/28/15]
Erickson Described First Night Of Democratic National Convention As “The Vagina Monologues.” Referring to the first night of the 2012 Democratic National Convention, during which first lady Michelle Obama and other female leaders appeared, Erickson tweeted, “First night of the Vagina Monologues in Charlotte going as expected.” [Twitter.com, 9/4/12, via Media Matters]
Erickson: “Who Cares That” A Woman Wasn't Given Augusta Membership? “She's A Woman” And “Women Aren't Allowed.” In response to controversy over the female CEO of IBM being denied admittance to the Augusta National Golf Club, Erickson said on an April 2012 edition of his radio program, “Who cares that she wasn't invited into the club? She's a woman. Women aren't allowed.” [WSB, The Erick Erickson Show, 4/6/12, via Media Matters]
Erickson: National Association Of Women Are “The NAG Gang ... The Angry Ones. Angry In Their Unibrows.” Erickson echoed Rush Limbaugh's smear of the National Association of Women, labelling the organization, “The NAG gang, as the godfather of radio Rush Limbaugh would call them, the National Association of Gals. They are the angry ones. Angry in their unibrows, I believe it was once said.” [WSB, The Erick Erickson Show, 4/2/12, via Media Matters]
Erickson Repeatedly Attacked Feminists As “Too Ugly To Get A Date” With “No Sense Of Humor.” After an anti-abortion ad aired during the 2010 Super Bowl, Erickson tweeted, “that's it?!?! That's what the feminazis were enraged over? Seriously?!? Wow. That's what being too ugly to get a date does to your brain.” Another tweet read, “Thus ends the credibility of all pro-abortion groups. Thanks Mrs. Tebow for that. Ugly feminists return to their kitchens.” The next day, Erickson wrote, “Turned on twitter today and there was a barrage of angry feminists upset with me telling them to get in the kitchen and learn to cook;” “Good thing I didn't suggest the feminists ... you know ... shave. They'd be at my house trying a post-birth abortion on me.” Erickson also tweeted, “Feminists have no sense of humor, but clearly God did in creating feminists.” [Twitter.com, 5/30/13, via Media Matters]
Erickson: Hillary Clinton “Is Going To Be Old” In 2016, “I Don't Know How Far Back They Can Pull Her Face.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 4/22/14]
Erickson Has Been Called Out By Colleagues For “Being Disrespectful To Women”
Fox's Greta Van Susteren After Erickson Called Female Politician “Abortion Barbie”: He's A “Creep” With A “Pattern Of Being Disrespectful To Women.” Fox News host Greta Van Susteren harshly criticized Erickson after he called Texas gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis “Abortion Barbie.” Van Susteren wrote of Erickson in a post headlined, “What is wrong with this guy? He is such a jerk! He is a repeat offender!”: “This is about a man who has pattern of being disrespectful to women” and “No one should pay any attention to” people like him because “they are not persuasive, they are noise, and in some instances boorish and obnoxious. I suspect this guy feels that he makes himself relevant or even important if he says or tweets like this. I just roll my eyes and wonder what is going on in his head!”
This posting is not about Wendy Davis. It is not about her views. This is about a man who has pattern of being disrespectful to women:
We are a big nation with different viewpoints. We won't always agree...but a strong debate is helpful when we disagree. Sometimes if you are smart in your debate, you persuade someone who otherwise had disagreed with you.
And then there are the creeps who take cheap shots because they are too ignorant and small to engage in an important discussion. The best they can do is make themselves look really bad. No one should pay any attention to them - they are not persuasive, they are noise, and in some instances boorish and obnoxious. I suspect this guy feels that he makes himself relevant or even important if he says or tweets like this. I just roll my eyes and wonder what is going on in his head!
I don't care how much you disagree or agree with Texas' Wendy Davis, you have to agree that this guy, Erick Erickson, is a real jerk and is really lousy at being a spokesperson for his views:
[...]
PS - I read someplace that he was a CNN contributor and is a Fox News contributor. He has never been on TV with me. [FoxNewsInsider.com, 1/27/14, via Media Matters]
Numerous Other Fox News Employees And Media Figures Have Called Out Erickson For Sexism. Media figures from across the political spectrum have called out Erickson for his sexist rhetoric, including Fox News' Megyn Kelly, who labeled Erickson's remarks about male dominance “offensive.” [Media Matters, 5/30/13; Media Matters, 5/31/13]
Erickson: LGBT People Are Going “To Hell,” Countries Supporting Marriage Equality Are “Bent On Suicide”
Erickson: LGBT People Are “On The Road To Hell.” Erickson tweeted during a debate over marriage equality: “You're not really loving your neighbor when you're cool with him staying on the road to hell.” [Twitter.com, 3/27/13, via Equality Matters]
Erickson: Businesses That Serve Gay Couples Are “Aiding And Abetting” Sin. During a debate about state legislation allowing businesses and individuals to refuse serve to gay people, Erickson suggested that businesses that do serve same-sex couples were “aiding and abetting” sin. [Equality Matters, 2/21/14]
Erickson: Transgender Service Members Are “Mentally Ill.” After the Pentagon announced that the Department of Defense will create a working group to review “policy and readiness implications of welcoming transgender persons to serve openly,” Erickson tweeted: “It is very kind of the Obama administration to allow the mentally ill to serve openly in the military.” [Media Matters, 7/13/15]
Erickson: “Abuse” And “Parental Issues” Make People Gay. Erickson stated on his radio program:
ERICKSON: First of all, you're only talking 3 to 5 percent of the population. Now I know a lot of people, a lot of people the thought is that you're born gay. That's actually not really true in most cases. In some cases I think it probably is, but in a lot of cases if you go back to it there are parental issues, there's abuse, and that has a lot to do with it. And as you see a collapse of family - I don't think that it's a coincidence that a collapse of family is - is directly inverse proportional or inversely related to the rise in people who identify as being gay. [WSB, The Erick Erickson Show, 6/29/15]
Erickson: Countries With Marriage Equality Are “Bent On Suicide.” Erickson wrote of marriage equality:
This will not end well for any of us. Despite surveys designed to show the contrary, children tend to do best with mothers and fathers. A society that willfully undermines perpetuating itself is a society bent on suicide. One thing is for sure -- a faith that survived its followers being used as torches to light the streets of Rome will survive a modern age hell bent on ruthlessly stamping it out. [Townhall.com, 8/7/14, via Media Matters]
Erickson Strongly Supports The Alliance Defending Freedom, Which Is Working Internationally To Criminalize Homosexuality. [Equality Matters, 3/28/14; Equality Matters, 8/23/13]
Erickson's Fringe Rhetoric: SC Justice A “Goat Fucking Child Molester,” When Are We Going To Beat Legislators To “A Bloody Pulp?”
Erickson Called Justice Souter A “Goat Fucking Child Molester.” In response to news that Justice David Souter was retiring from the Supreme Court, Erickson tweeted, “The nation loses the only goat fucking child molester ever to serve on the Supreme Court.” [Twitter.com, 4/30/09, via Media Matters]
Erickson Defended Beck's Statement That Obama Is “Racist,” Attacked “Obama Brownshirts.” Erickson defended Glenn Beck's assertion that President Obama is a “racist.” Erickson wrote: “A while back, Glenn Beck called Barack Obama a 'racist.' Given all the terrorists, thugs, and racists Barack Obama has chosen as close personal friends (see e.g. Rev. Wright), it's not a stretch to say it.” He called for people to boycott companies that had pulled out of advertising on Beck's show since they were “kowtowing to Barack Obama's worshippers, brownshirts, goons, and thugs.” [Media Matters, 3/16/10]
Erickson: “At What Point Do The People ... March Down To Their State Legislator's House, Pull Him Outside, And Beat Him To A Bloody Pulp?” From a 2009 RedState post discussing a Washington county's ban on certain kinds of dishwasher detergent:
Washington State has turned its residents into a group of drug runners -- crossing state lines to buy dish washer detergent with phosphate.
At what point do the people tell the politicians to go to hell? At what point do they get off the couch, march down to their state legislator's house, pull him outside, and beat him to a bloody pulp for being an idiot?
At some point soon, it will happen. It'll be over an innocuous issue. But the rage is building. It's not a partisan issue. There is bipartisan angst at out of control government made worse by dumb bans like this and unintended consequences like AIG's bonus problems.
If the GOP plays its cards right, it will have a winning issue in 2010. But it is going to have to get back to “leave me the hell alone” style federalism where the national government recedes and the people themselves will have to fight to take their states back from special interests out of touch with body politic as a whole.
Were I in Washington State, I'd be cleaning my gun right about now waiting to protect my property from the coming riots or the government apparatchiks coming to enforce nonsensical legislation. [RedState.com, 3/31/09, via Media Matters]
Erickson: Minimum Wage Workers Are “Mostly People Who Failed At Life.” Erickson stated: “If you're a 30-something-year-old person and you're making minimum wage you've probably failed at life.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 9/4/14]