For some reason, people on the left have repeatedly found it to be acceptable to mock White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders for her looks. The LA Times was forced to delete part of a column that referred to Sanders as a "slightly chunky soccer mom," among other things, and the author apologized. She's also been called a "butch queen."
And then there's Chelsea Handler.
On Thursday, Handler tweeted this attack at Sanders' father, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Handler said that "A feminist Gov. Mike Huckabee is someone who supports other women," and "A feminist doesn't discount other women. Your daughter is not a feminist."
A feminist @GovMikeHuckabee is someone who supports other women. A feminist is someone who believes the accounts of 15 different women who have similar stories about our President. A feminist doesn’t discount other women. Your daughter is not a feminist. You raised a liar.
— Chelsea Handler (@chelseahandler) December 7, 2017
While Handler certainly doesn't consider Sanders to be a feminist, it can be inferred that she considers herself to be one. Which begs the question--why did she then post this parody video of Sanders' makeup routine less than an hour after that first tweet?
Get the "Sarah Huckabee Sanders" look @fortunefunny. New @chelseashow Friday. pic.twitter.com/O8y1l2RxZe
— Chelsea Handler (@chelseahandler) December 7, 2017
In the video, "Sanders" says things like "My face is a big fat biscuit," refers to herself as a "fella" that needed to be turned into a woman via the makeup counter at Sephora, and said that people are surprised she's only 35 years old as she inherited her father's "old face." The makeup "tutorial" resulted in a clown face.
It's fine to disagree with someone's policy viewpoints, regardless of their gender. Nobody should feel forced to agree with anyone else on every issue, and that includes Sanders. It's less fine, however, to call someone you disagree with ugly or to mock their appearance. That's petty and cheapens any original argument. Handler comes off as a bully, which isn't a great look and could backfire by generating more sympathy for Sanders.
Handler could have, and should have, chosen to be the bigger person in this one-sided argument. Instead, she stooped low.