When rapper Killer Mike spoke before Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders at an Atlanta rally on Tuesday night, he sparked controversy by telling supporters that “a uterus doesn’t qualify you to be president of the United States.”
Killer Mike is the latest Sanders surrogate to use impolitic comments about Hillary Clinton, raising tensions between the two campaigns as they head into pivotal contests in Nevada, South Carolina and a string of “Super Tuesday” states on March 1. It comes weeks after former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright implied at a Clinton rally in New Hampshire there was a “special place in hell” for women who don’t support Clinton, a line that angered some female supporters of Sanders.
The rapper, whose real name is Michael Render, suggested at a rally before 4,800 people at Morehouse College that Clinton would be slow to move on issues of racial justice. His comments referenced a recent conversation he said he had with anti-racism activist Jane Elliott.
“When people tell us, ‘Hold on, wait awhile.’ And that’s what the other Democrat is telling you. ‘Hold on, Black Lives Matter. Just wait awhile.’ ‘Hold on, young people in this country, just wait awhile,'” the rapper said. “But I talked to Jane Elliott a few weeks ago, and Jane said, ‘Michael, a uterus doesn’t qualify you to be president of the United States. You have to be — you have to have policy that’s reflective of social justice.'”
Sanders did not address the comments during the Atlanta rally and it wasn’t clear if the senator heard them — he was off stage at the time. The campaign did not immediately address the remarks.
Clinton campaign spokeswoman Karen Finney responded to the rapper on Twitter, “Based on her uterus? Must be ignoring @HillaryClinton lifetime of doing the work breaking down barriers for all.”
NARAL Pro-Choice America, a reproductive rights organization supporting Clinton, called it “inappropriate and sexist” and urged Sanders to denounce the comments.
The rapper defended himself on Twitter, citing Albright’s remarks. Albright later wrote in The New York Times that it “was the wrong context and the wrong time to use that line.”
Killer Mike cited a prominent female supporter of Sanders, former Ohio State Sen. Nina Turner, writing on Twitter that “i don’t and never will Hate or think less of woman. Sen. Nina Turner is my Next Great Political Champ but I’m sorry No HRC for me.”
Sanders has vowed to run a positive, issue-based campaign and frequently says he’s never run a negative ad during his congressional career. But some of his top surrogates have made statements at rallies that may have crossed the line.
At an event in Burlington, Iowa, actress Susan Sarandon said she had “gotten a lot of flak as a woman for not just, you know, voting genitalia and going for the women candidate.” She said, “I would love to see a woman president. I believe one day there will be a woman president. But it’s even more important that that woman be the right person.” She added that she was “so disappointed and devastated when Hillary Clinton voted for the (Iraq) war and I was so moved when Bernie Sanders stood in what was an unpopular position and said what he said which unfortunately for all of us came true.”
Cornel West, a Princeton University professor and civil rights activist who has campaigned with Sanders, pointed to Clinton’s ties to Wall Street, telling a Davenport, Iowa, audience that “we will not be led astray by our dear sister Hillary Clinton. We know the difference between a genuine Democrat small D and a Wall Street Democrat capital D.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Hillary has played the gender card. Basically she is hoping to get elected by guilting women in to voting for her because she is a woman. I guess she saw that it worked for Obama in 2008. After all many voted for him because of his skin color rather than his qualifications.
SOMETHING I THINK EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD KNOW BEFORE DECIDING WHO WOULD BE A TRUE ALLY OF THE PEOPLE OF OUR NATION-
H I L L A R Y H A S B E E N N O T ON L Y A N A L L Y O F T H E B I G B A N K S T E R S, S H E H A S
B E E N A S T R O N G A L L Y O F M O N S A N T O A N D T H E G M O C A R T E L!!!!!!
DO WE REALLY WANT A PRESIDENT WHO IS OPENLY, AGGRESSIVELY PUSHING G M O S HERE AND ALL OVER THE WORLD?
SHE IS EITHER IGNORANT OF THE TRUTH ABOUT GMOS, IN WHICH CASE SHE IS T O T A L L Y UNQUALIFIED TO LEAD OUR NATION, OR SHE IS AWARE OF THE TRUTH, AND IS AN E N E M Y OF OUR PEOPLE, WHO WILL INTENTIONALLY AID AND ABET THE POISONING OF OUR NATION AND OUR WORLD, FOR E V E R !!
THIS WOMAN IS A THREAT TO THE SURVIVAL OF HUMANITY, AND EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD DO YOUR OWN
RESEARCH ON HER ACTIONS PROMOTING G M O S, F O S S I L F U E L S, AND THE THEFT OF OUR NATION’S WEALTH AND CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS BY THE BIG FINANCE CORPUCRATIC CABAL!
AND THEN TAKE A REAL CLOSE LOOK AT BERNIE’S TRACK RECORD FOR THE PAST THIRTY + YEARS.
IT’S PRETTY OBVIOUS IN SO MANY WAYS WHO IS GOING TO REPRESENT AMERICA AND ITS PEOPLE AND LANDS, AND WHO IS GOING TO REPRESENT THE THIEVES, POISONERS, AND USURPERS OF OUR DEMOCRATIC FOUNDATIONS.
GOD HELP US ALL IF WE D O N ‘T PUT BERNIE INTO THE “HOT SEAT” TO FIGHT FOR OUR SURVIVAL, FOR OUR LANDS, OUR AIR, OUR WATERS, OUR HEALTH, OUR RIGHTS, FOR OUR F U T U R E !! F OR T H E CHILDREN OF THE WORLD!! FOR L I F E O N E A R T H !!!
The imposition of political correctness has ensured identity politics rapidly subsumed social ideals thereby making a perverse nonsense of Western societies legislation as they doubtless were designed to do. Clearly nefarious forces are at work below the surface deliberately creating the social chaos, much as they achieved militarily in other parts of the world, that is the prerequisite conditions necessary to bringing about their NWO – people should beware their actions and motives.
Yes, below the radar is Nazism quietly putting its adherents into place while distracting the American populace with other less important issues. Wake up people. Nazism is still alive and well. It never died after WWII. Nazi’s are in our government, universities, research laboratories and the CIA. Giant corporations are led by Nazis. They have infiltrated every institution. You may be working next to one and not know it.
Its true hat a uterus doesn’t qualify a woman for any office. Nor does a socialist penis qualify a man for the same office. Intent should be the deciding factor That should eliminate both Democratic candidates.
You know it’s lts leadership you can trust when you are endorsed by someone as reputable as killer mike. Pathetic! !!! By the way feel the burn sounds like a PSA for venereal disease.