Hillary Clinton And The Internet Superbly Respond To The RNC Chair’s Sexist Tweet About Her Face

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On Wednesday night, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both appeared on NBC’s Commander-In-Chief Forum, but were treated quite differently. Not only did this apply to the nominees’ on-camera treatment by Matt Lauer — he grilled Clinton over her emails and repeatedly interrupted her while letting Trump slide on his Iraq war lie — but also the at-home treatment. That is to say, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus narrated the event on Twitter. He praised Trump for his “vigilance and toughness,” but when he discussed Clinton, these same perceived strengths transformed into negative traits.

This incongruous treatment already functions an on-its-face example of sexism, which Clinton has been dealing with for four decades of political life. But then Priebus literally made it all about her face (because of course he did). He tweeted that she looked “angry + defensive the entire time – no smile and uncomfortable.” Amazing.

To hear Priebus tell it, Clinton should have worn an earth-shattering smile and happily cooed while discussing terrorism. Naturally, Twitter grew a little furious (just like Hillary!) in response to his tweet, which we’ll discuss in a moment. But first, Clinton herself came back with a fitting reply about how her facial expression was exactly what a “serious” president should look like:

From there, Twitter responded with everything from disgust to amusement. Paul Begala is correct — Priebus was this close to asking Clinton to twirl for him.

Some folks wanted Priebus to think about the moment when Clinton’s next scheduled smile would appear.

And others (including an involuntary Adele) showed off their own #PresidentialFace.

Do you think Priebus was smiling by the end of the evening?

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