Throughout Senator Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, he’s had many guest speakers at his rallies. And his event last night was no different. Dr. Paul Song, a socialist healthcare activist, spoke at the event, which was held in New York City’s Washington Square Park. In his speech, Dr. Song referenced Hillary Clinton’s political views. Almost immediately after, he stated, “[Medicare] for all will never happen, if we have a president who never aspires to anything greater than the status quo. Medicare for all will never happen, if we continue to elect corporate democratic whores who are beholden to big pharma and the private insurance industry!” This statement was met with an uproar of cheers, but also with a significant amount of backlash.
While Sanders condemned the statement, and Song has apologized for using the term “democratic whores,” many Sanders supporters are in favor of what Song said. The hashtag #DemocraticWhores began trending on Twitter soon after, bringing tweets both in favor of Dr. Song’s using the term “whore” and denouncing it.
One main point that opponents are bringing up is that the use of the hashtag, whether in support or not, is misogynistic, because the word “whore” has been used against sex workers for decades. A common response to the hashtag reads that “men can be whores, too,” a logic that offers a way to accept the term’s use against Clinton. However, the term “whore” has historically been very gendered and is almost always used in reference to women in a derogatory way. The misogyny related to this hashtag and the complete defense of the word and the use of it by some have raised a crucial question.
All of this raises a crucial question: If such a misogynistic word has entered the support of some of Sanders’ followers, why hasn’t Bernie Sanders addressed the need to stop the spread of it, at least within his campaign?
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