Hillary Clinton book memes

Photo via Gage Skidmore/Flickr Screengrab via yashar/Twitter (CC-BY-SA) Remix by Jason Reed

The right’s misogynistic tweets about Hillary Clinton’s new book prove what happened

Hillary Clinton's book title brought out the worst of Twitter.

David Covucci 

David Covucci

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Posted on Jul 28, 2017   Updated on May 22, 2021, 10:28 pm CDT

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

https://twitter.com/LizCrokin/status/890600411236753408

https://twitter.com/the_amish_txtr/status/890643589226782720

 

https://twitter.com/TheChairSniffer/status/890595961667547136

https://twitter.com/WhitneyChirps/status/890601338224001025

A lot of the proposed titles attacked her mental health using existing book titles.

https://twitter.com/Patriot_Musket/status/890572552761769984

Or her regular health.

https://twitter.com/Pamela_Moore13/status/890644756333604864

They also went after her appearance.

The left tried to revive the hashtag with some thoughts of their own.

https://twitter.com/leftyjennyc/status/890593694587510785

https://twitter.com/ChrisJZullo/status/890612341506756609

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/partyofthepeopl/status/890737787930120197

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.

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*First Published: Jul 28, 2017, 7:47 am CDT

David Covucci

David Covucci is the senior politics and technology editor at the Daily Dot, covering the nexus between Washington and Silicon Valley. His work has appeared in Vice, the Huffington Post, Jezebel, Gothamist, and other publications. He is particularly interested in hearing any tips you have. Reach out at dcovucci@thedailydot.com.

David Covucci