Gender has emerged as a key question in the 2016 presidential race, as Tim Kaine eschewed gendered language tonight to promise that he will be Hillary Clinton’s “right-hand person,” as opposed to right-hand man.
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Twitter pundits took note of the “woke” declaration…
He is already gender effacing. I will be Hillary Clinton's right hand "person" — not man!
— shikha sood dalmia (@shikhadalmia) October 5, 2016
Kaine says he'll be HRC's "right-hand person." Note the gender-neutral language. #VPDebate
— Sarah McCammon NPR (@sarahmccammon) October 5, 2016
Moving into a world of gender neutrality, Kaine says he will be HRC's "right hand person."
— Annie Linskey (@AnnieLinskey) October 5, 2016
Words matter: "right hand person" not "right hand man" – Oh, @timkaine you have no idea how meaningful that is to women leaders. Thank you.
— Liza Potts (@LizaPotts) October 5, 2016
"Hillary Clinton's right-hand person"? Come on, man.
— jimgeraghty (@jimgeraghty) October 5, 2016
Kaine says he'll be HRC's "right-hand person." Note the gender-neutral language. #VPDebate
— Sarah McCammon NPR (@sarahmccammon) October 5, 2016
Tim Kaine is already sounding very #woke, describing himself as Hillary Clinton's "right hand person"
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) October 5, 2016
Interesting word choice by Kaine. He calls himself "right-hand person" of Clinton , not right-hand man.
— Howard French (@hofrench) October 5, 2016
"Right hand person." Not even Kaine thinks he's a man. #KaineVsPence
— The Truth Monkey (@TheTruthMonkey) October 5, 2016
There goes the southpaw vote. @timkaine says he'll be @HillaryClinton's right-hand person. #VPDebate
— Jonathan D. Salant (@JDSalant) October 5, 2016
Were Kaine in college today, presumably he(?) would pick a similarly woke preferred pronoun. Question of the night: Would it be “they” or “ze”? Presumably he(?) would not pick “His Majesty.”
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UPDATE, 10/5/16: Kaine has really taken a punch in the — well, let’s say gut, for his promise to be the first gender-neutral vice president.
Neutered? In VP Debate, Tim Kaine Promises To Be Hillary's 'Right-Hand Person'… https://t.co/k61ArwK7ww
— DRUDGE REPORT (@DRUDGE_REPORT) October 5, 2016
Kaine promised to be Hillary Clinton’s “right-hand person” tonight??? Cleverly avoids fact-check on whether he is a man.
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) October 5, 2016
Genderless #TimKaine? In #VPDebate, Promises To Be ‘Right-Hand Person’ https://t.co/wIte8ZonKZ pic.twitter.com/lm5GiUA9X7
— Hillary Clinton News (@Hillarizer) October 5, 2016
#Right https://t.co/xFFZfjcGxa Kaine says he was picked to be Hillary’s right-hand ‘person’: How PC! pic.twitter.com/iM8K9XWnPF
— RNC (@rncmall) October 5, 2016
@timKaine makes history, er, herstory as the first post-gender, non-binary VP nominee: "right-hand" person. #human
— Dan Proft (@DanProft) October 5, 2016
Kaine "Right-Hand Person"
This is what I don't like about the Modern Left. Getting rid of words like "Man" is just too extreme for me.
— Nick Flor-ProfessorF (@ProfessorF) October 5, 2016
@realDonaldTrump @HillaryClinton @foxnews Killary gotta get her right hand person back pic.twitter.com/4zeFt4xqvZ
— Lord Weimy (@WokiWeim) October 5, 2016
https://t.co/IjcOECy8VH. "Right-hand person" = already in HRC's lockbox … New poster child of the PC Crowd.
— Chris Tawney (@tawney_c) October 5, 2016
@LizaPotts @timkaine Why it's okay to say "women leaders", but Kaine is forced by PC crowd to say "right hand person." Double standard ??
— Paul Leininger (@pleininger2) October 5, 2016
HILLARY’S RIGHT-HAND PERSON https://t.co/MeZMs919lE
— JWF (@JammieWF) October 5, 2016
@jimgeraghty In a slap to left hand people… Kaine says he'll be HRC's "right-hand person." Note the hand-aggressive language.
— Patrick M Hill (@Pmhgroup) October 5, 2016
https://twitter.com/_Teufelshunde/status/783631680439513088
And, of course, Donald Trump couldn’t resist making his own dig at Kaine’s manhood, retweeting the following.
We need STRONG, BROAD-SHOULDERED leadership like @mike_pence & @realDonaldTrump in the White House! #VPDebate #BigLeagueTruth pic.twitter.com/IXXxZZYhy9
— Official Team Trump (@TeamTrump) October 5, 2016