Governor races

DNC chief: Scott Walker ‘has given women the back of his hand’

Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz on Wednesday blasted Gov. Scott Walker’s (R-Wis.) policies, seemingly comparing them to acts of domestic violence.  

“Scott Walker has given women the back of his hand. I know that is stark. I know that is direct. But that is reality,” she said at a roundtable discussion about women’s issues at the Milwaukee Athletic Club, according to the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel.

“What Republican Tea Party extremists like Scott Walker are doing is they are grabbing us by the hair and pulling us back. It is not going to happen on our watch,” Wasserman Schultz added. 

{mosads}Her comments drew heavy blowback from Republicans and even the campaign of Walker’s Democratic challenger, Mary Burke.

“That’s not the type of language that Mary Burke would use, or has used, to point out the clear differences in this contest,” Stephanie Wilson, spokeswoman for Burke’s gubernatorial campaign, told the newspaper. 

“There is plenty that she and Governor Walker disagree on — but those disagreements can and should be pointed out respectfully.”

Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch called the comments “absolutely hideous” and the motive behind them “despicable.”

“Talk about desperate,” tweeted Sean Spicer, communications director for the Republican National Committee (RNC). 

Spicer riped the congresswoman, arguing that the DNC needs a new speechwriter. He even joked about whether the DNC had hired a former speechwriter for Vice President Biden, who’s known for using blunt language. 

RNC press secretary Kirsten Kukowski also tweeted that Wasserman Schultz “crossed the line” in Wisconsin, saying it “shows how much [Democrats] are flailing.”

A deputy communications director at the DNC, Lily Adams, rejected the idea that Wasserman Schultz was belittling victims of domestic violence.

“Domestic violence is an incredibly serious issue and the Congresswoman (Wasserman Schultz) was by no means belittling the very real pain survivors experience.”