When the title of Hillary Clinton‘s new book debuted last night, it was ripe for roasting. The title, What Happened, sans question mark, comes across as Clinton lecturing America, rife with disdain for the people she’s ostensibly speaking to. But the right is proving exactly why her words are needed with a newfound misogynistic attack nearly nine months after the election.
Throughout the campaign, Hillary Clinton was bashed for her appearance, her demeanor, her physical health, and her mental health. And it’s something that the right can’t get over, despite having bested Clinton for the White House.
The book announcement brought out the worst of misogynistic Twitter, as people continued to try and beat down the candidate they’d already beaten down. Many of the proposed titles refer to the Seth Rich murder conspiracy, the unsubstantiated theory that the Democratic National Committee staffer was killed for leaking emails to WikiLeaks.
https://twitter.com/teyegirlily/status/890768429048713216
Harry Potter and the Bitter Wizened Crone Who Hates Normal Americans And Cannot Satisfy Her Husband #BetterNamesForHillarysBook
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) July 27, 2017
#BetterNamesForHillarysBook
— LIZ CROKIN (@LizCrokin) July 27, 2017
Murder She Wrote
https://twitter.com/the_amish_txtr/status/890643589226782720
https://twitter.com/Ian56789/status/890609779789357056
#BetterNamesForHillarysBook
— Cari Kelemen (@KelemenCari) July 27, 2017
Pets Who Resemble Their Owners pic.twitter.com/i2PWLXGRcK
https://twitter.com/TheChairSniffer/status/890595961667547136
The Basket of Deplorables: How They Broke me#BetterNamesForHillarysBook pic.twitter.com/0K4iIqdira
— 🐦Whitney🐦 (@WhitneyChirps) July 27, 2017
A lot of the proposed titles attacked her mental health using existing book titles.
One Fell Out of the Cuckoo's Nest#BetterNamesForHillarysBook
— Federalist Musket🇺🇸 (@Patriot_Musket) July 27, 2017
#BetterNamesForHillarysBook
— Lizzy Lou Who 🌷 (@_wintergirl93) July 27, 2017
Fifty Shades Of Cray
Or her regular health.
https://twitter.com/Pamela_Moore13/status/890644756333604864
Where the Sidewalk Ends#BetterNamesForHillarysBook pic.twitter.com/enoL9O3p3N
— Paul Sacca (@Paul_Sacca) July 27, 2017
They also went after her appearance.
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe#BetterNamesForHillarysBook pic.twitter.com/aYZIM2q6EV
— Xeriland (@Xeriland) July 28, 2017
The left tried to revive the hashtag with some thoughts of their own.
https://twitter.com/leftyjennyc/status/890593694587510785
Remember when they said Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were the same? Well policy matters, politics doesn't #BetterNamesForHillarysBook
— 💉♻️🇺🇸 Christopher Zullo (@ChrisJZullo) July 27, 2017
https://twitter.com/Onision/status/890588602857431040
But a day later, the right’s tweets are still going strong online. The belief that Clinton is a cold, calculated killer was another popular option for titles—which, given the right’s love of Trump and his win-at-all costs attitude—truly does reflect the inherently gendered view of Clinton.
https://twitter.com/USAkidsFirst/status/890595500642242560
https://twitter.com/LadyReverb/status/890729497816743938
https://twitter.com/SugarPillKiller/status/890750475191975936
Voters Remembered That Day In September….#BetterNamesForHillarysBook pic.twitter.com/ooVc4NLRrj
— United We Stand 🇺🇸 (@partyofthepeopl) July 28, 2017
While these are all crude jokes, they do actually point to what did happen. The first woman candidate for president could not overcome the misogyny inherent in patriarchal society.
That’s what happened.