DNC Chair Apologizes For Walker ‘Back Of The Hand’ Comment

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D- Fla., speaks before President Barack Obama speaks at a campaign event at the University of Miami, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012, in Coral Gables, Fla. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
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Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) said she “shouldn’t have used the words” she did when she said on Wednesday that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) has effectively given women “the back of the hand.”

In a statement on Thursday Wasserman Schultz said she shouldn’t have used those words.

“I shouldn’t have used the words I used,” Wasserman Schultz said. “But that shouldn’t detract from the broader point that I was making that Scott Walker’s policies have been bad for Wisconsin women, whether it’s mandating ultrasounds, repealing an equal pay law, or rejecting federal funding for preventative health care, Walker’s record speaks for itself. As for the issue of domestic violence, it’s unacceptable that a majority of Congressional Republicans opposed this critical legislation, of which I was a proud cosponsor, after blocking its reauthorization for more than a year.”

Wasserman Schultz’s comments on Wednesday came at a roundtable discussion on women’s issues in Milwaukee.

“Scott Walker has given women the back of his hand,” Wasserman Schultz said at the time. “I know that is stark. I know that is direct. I know that is reality.”

After the comments the DNC quickly moved to say that Wasserman Schultz was not belittling the real pain survivors of domestic violence have felt.

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Notable Replies

  1. I don’t believe in making excuses for Democrats when they say stupid things, and Wasserman Schultz has said stupid things in the past. But I really don’t think that particular comment warranted an apology. It’s graphic, but it is pretty accurate.

  2. Avatar for pine pine says:

    "“I shouldn’t have used the words I used,” Wasserman Schultz said. "But that shouldn’t detract from the broader point that I was making that Scott Walker’s policies have been bad for Wisconsin women, "

    DON"T APOLOGIES"

  3. She should apologize for apologizing. She was right the first time.

  4. She used a well-known figure of speech—and a damned accurate one at that.

    No apology should have been offered.

  5. Sometimes we lefties are way to PC for our own good. Walker’s a schmuck, but she couldn’t have said that.

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