The chief political analyst for ABC News found out on Wednesday what happens when you attack a female lawmaker based on her gender.

Matthew Dowd, who has worked for various Democratic and Republican campaigns including President George W. Bush’s but who now describes himself as an “independent”, was unhappy with comments made by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) during the first day of the House Intel Committee Chair Adam Schiff’s public impeachment inquiry hearings on Capitol Hill.

The Free Beacon provides context and sets the scene:

Dowd’s attack came minutes after Stefanik pointed out during a House Intelligence Committee hearing that although President Donald Trump threatened to remove aid from Ukraine, and asked Ukrainian officials to investigate the Biden family, neither of these things ever occurred.

Here’s what Dowd tweeted in response to Stefanik’s remarks:

That’s a screen grab of the tweet because it was later deleted by Dowd after a firestorm of criticism from conservatives about his comments:

I do not think she consistently wins NY-21 by double digit margins because her district wants to make a demographic statement; her views align with her district which also went for Trump by double digits.

This is an astonishingly bad statement from an “independent” analyst. https://t.co/ah47RVgfsQ

— Kristen Soltis Anderson (@KSoltisAnderson) November 13, 2019

Wow. That's nasty. And ABC is not in a position to be passing judgement on anyone considering they killed a story on a pedophile which, if allowed to air, could have saved many young women from being abused.

— Nancy's Dentures 😱🦷👀 (@velcra820) November 13, 2019

My gosh this account has just become sexist take central over the last few weeks. Start reading your tweets out loud to someone before you send them.

— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) November 13, 2019

Let’s be perfectly clear here — this comment from @matthewjdowd is sexist and should be condemned by @ABC.

Sexism is disgusting.

Matthew Dowd should be ashamed of himself. https://t.co/nhtURpj6Dg

— Erin Perrine (@ErinMPerrine) November 13, 2019

Twitchy documented many more reactions here.

As Jazz Shaw at Hot Air notes, Dowd made an attempt at apologizing but it bombed and came across as extremely insincere:

In addition to deleting the tweet, Dowd did go on to try to apologize to Stefanik, but his first attempt fell flat. “Hey @EliseStefanik I just want to apologize for a tweet that is being misinterpreted,” he wrote. “I didn’t mean to suggest you were elected only because you were a woman or a millennial. I deleted the tweet.”

That is what’s known in political circles as a “non-apology” for obvious reasons. The tweet was being “misinterpreted?” Sorry, Matthew, but when you go out in public and say “just electing someone because they are a woman or a millennial,” people are going to take you at your word. Claiming you didn’t mean to suggest the precise thing you stated (word for word) and that we’re all just misinterpreting it doesn’t qualify as an apology.

Dowd went on to take a second shot at the apology and finally did a little bit better, though he was still sticking to his “I didn’t mean to imply” line. (An apology that she graciously accepted.)

Unfortunately, this isn’t the fist time recently Stefanik has faced comments that she and others have suggested were sexist or otherwise diminishing of her as a woman:

In the transcript of a Oct. 29 impeachment inquiry deposition, U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik had an exchange with the lawyer of a witness that she said was “sexist.”

The document, which was unclassified Friday, shows the testimony of Alexander Vindman, a decorated war veteran and top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council. Vindman listened to the call between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which is at the center of this impeachment probe.

Vindman’s lawyer Michael Volkov interjected when Stefanik asked a question about Vindman’s knowledge of a typical head of state call.

“First off, I don’t know who you are,” Volkov said. “If you could identify yourself for the record.”

He asked Stefanik to clarify her question.

Steve Castor, the chief investigative counsel for the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, introduced Stefanik and she said she is on the House Intelligence Committee, and is a third-term member.

“OK. I don’t know who you were,” Volkov said. “I apologize.”

“I get asked this a lot,” Stefanik said.

Stefanik went on to claim later that she was asked the question because she was “the only young woman at the table” and because of that it was assumed that she was a Congressional staffer.

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— Based in North Carolina, Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 16+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter. –