Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had a banner night yesterday (March 15), decisively winning in Florida, North Carolina, and Ohio—wins that make it increasingly difficult for rival Bernie Sanders to catch up and secure the number of delegates needed for the nomination.
In a speech late Tuesdayin Palm Beach, Florida, she spoke about student debt, infrastructure, retirement benefits, manufacturing jobs, torture, inequality, and LGBT rights, among other things.
Rather than address the content of the speech, one male news anchor issued a request most women commonly associate with street harassment:
Smile. You just had a big night. #PrimaryDay
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) March 16, 2016
Fox News anchors and commentators, male and female, made her voice, rather than the content of the speech, the subject of their analysis later in the evening:
“Or dear God in heaven, the voice, make it stop. Ugh,” a male Fox commentator said. A female panelist jumped in, saying she wanted to defend the criticism of Clinton, because men who criticize her are accused of being “sexist.” She said:
I actually find the tone of her voice, like, I think it is, like, so aggressive and so loud, like, just make a normal speech. Just make a stump speech. It’s great. Why are you screaming, so much? [Try] the way I am speaking now? Maybe, a little higher in a big room?
Other Fox News anchors had opinions on her voice as well, which they expressed on Twitter:
Hillary having a big night in the primaries. So she's shouting angrily in her victory speech. Supporters loving it. What's she mad at?
— Brit Hume (@brithume) March 16, 2016
Hillary shouting her speech. She has the floor; a more conversational tone might be better for connecting with folks at home
— HowardKurtz (@HowardKurtz) March 16, 2016
Media Matters, the media watchdog, declared right-wing media coverage after the speech a “ sexist obsession.”
And some folks, women as well as men, seemed as if they had enough:
STOP
TELLING
WOMEN
TO
SMILE https://t.co/CPRHZVbgOr
— Libby Nelson (@libbyanelson) March 16, 2016