Vice President Joe Biden predicted that there will be an increase in sexism if Hillary Clinton becomes president, adding that he hopes it won’t be as bad as the uptick in racism that accompanied Barack Obama’s election.
“We’ve moved, thank God, too far along in terms of, there’s not a single man I know, no matter...how much of a sexist he is, doesn’t know, there’re a whole lot of really smart competent women ― and smarter than he is,” Biden said in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday. “They may resent it, but they know it. ... I think it will surface.”
Biden said he and the president always thought more racism would surface after Obama’s historic election in 2008 ― before clarifying that he could speak only for himself.
“The president and I didn’t think it wouldn’t surface. ... He thought it would, too. I’ll speak for myself,” Biden said.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, said there has been a explosion of anti-government groups known as being part of the so-called Patriot movement. From a 2012 report by SPLC:
But the movement came roaring back beginning in late 2008, just as the economy went south with the subprime collapse and, more importantly, as Barack Obama appeared on the political scene as the Democratic nominee and, ultimately, the president-elect. Even as most of the nation cheered the election of the first black president that November, an angry backlash developed that included several plots to murder Obama. Many Americans, infused with populist fury over bank and auto bailouts and a feeling that they had lost their country, joined Patriot groups.
The swelling of the Patriot movement since that time has been astounding. From 149 groups in 2008, the number of Patriot organizations skyrocketed to 512 in 2009, shot up again in 2010 to 824, and then, last year, jumped to 1,274. That works out to a staggering 755% growth in the three years ending last Dec. 31. Last year’s total was more than 400 groups higher than the prior all-time high, in 1996.
Many African-Americans have also been frustrated with a long-running attempt to delegitimize the first black president by claiming he wasn’t born in the United States and therefore isn’t really eligible to be president. They argue that these sorts of arguments wouldn’t be used ― and haven’t been used ― against a white president.
“It’s a dog whistle to all Americans, especially African-Americans,” Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) said last month. “If indeed Barack Obama is not intelligent, if indeed Barack Obama is not legitimate, then you striving up the corporate ladder, or striving to achieve something ... how can you feel good about yourself as a sixth-grader if you’re an African-American?”
Already, this campaign season has seen sexism like no other in recent memory. Donald Trump has accused Clinton of playing the “woman card” and said she doesn’t look “presidential.”
More recently, the discussion of the race has been focused around whether the nation will elect a man who has bragged about sexually assaulting women ― and has been accused of doing so by numerous women. Trump has responded by insulting the looks of his accusers, saying they are too ugly to have attracted his notice in the first place.
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