Did McCain Reference The “Sarah Palin Is A C*nt” T-Shirt During The Debate?
You tell us! All we know is that, at some point during the debate last night, our phones, emails and Twitters started lighting up with messages such as “Did I just hear what I think I heard?” At first, we had no idea what you people were talking about BECAUSE WE WERE WATCHING THE GAME. We still don’t understand how anybody could have been doing otherwise, but finally a scenario emerged: While going off on some kind of tangent about how mean and cruel us Obama supporters are, John McCain seems to have made a failed reference to the “Sarah Palin Is A C*unt” t-shirt. Which, on one hand, makes sense — the shirt is clearly a fine example of being way, way over the line when it comes to expressing one’s distaste for the strange fleshpuppet McCain chose as his running mate in a fit of pique that we all now have to live with for the next month. But on the other, it’s like, John McCain read Philebrity? Weird. Maybe his daughter turned him on to us.
October 16th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
I watched the debates last night (sorry, just not into sports!) and no, he didn’t reference her cuntiness. Instead he made a comment about abortion and “the health of the mother” and even did the air-quotes thing. it was crazy and everyone watching w/ me was like “wait did that just really happen.”
there were other moments too, and i just can’t see how anyone would think Obama didn’t win!?
October 16th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
BDeluxe-
You were asleep at the wheel. McCain did reference the tee shirt but Bob Shafer cut him off right when he was going to tell the audience what was on the shirt. Instead of creating put downs out of thin air consider listening first.
October 16th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
because i was listening to the debate and not watching the game, i can say no, he did not.
i think he called her autistic, though.
October 16th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
@BDeluxe, ugh, totally agree. The creepy air quotes and ridiculous comment about abortion put me over the edge.
October 16th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
He did make a reference to tshirts that were “unacceptable”, though who knows which one. It’s here on the transcript.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/10/debate-transcri.html
October 16th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
he did too reference the shirt..
here’s from the transcript
“MCCAIN: Let me just say categorically I’m proud of the people that come to our rallies. Whenever you get a large rally of 10,000, 15,000, 20,000 people, you’re going to have some fringe peoples. You know that. And I’ve — and we’ve always said that that’s not appropriate.
But to somehow say that group of young women who said “Military wives for McCain” are somehow saying anything derogatory about you, but anything — and those veterans that wear those hats that say “World War II, Vietnam, Korea, Iraq,” I’m not going to stand for people saying that the people that come to my rallies are anything but the most dedicated, patriotic men and women that are in this nation and they’re great citizens.
And I’m not going to stand for somebody saying that because someone yelled something at a rally — there’s a lot of things that have been yelled at your rallies, Senator Obama, that I’m not happy about either.
In fact, some T-shirts that are very…
OBAMA: John, I…
MCCAIN: … unacceptable. So the point is — the point is that I have repudiated every time someone’s been out of line, whether they’ve been part of my campaign or not, and I will continue to do that.”
October 16th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
He did. At 31:40, McCain starts to act offended at Obama’s mention of McCain’s supporters yelling violent slogans at recent Palin rallies, and he says, “There’s a lot of things that have been yelled at your rallies, Senator Obama, that I’m not happy about either. In fact, some T-shirts that are very…unacceptable.”
October 16th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
and you can watch the game AND the debate if you are really good…
October 16th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Hulu link to clip referencing T-Shirts:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/39468/presidential-debate-08-presidential-debate-october-15-2008?c=1955:1965
October 16th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
OMG how did i miss that? well i had an apt full of talking gay men, i guess that’s how.
well then thats pretty cool that he noticed the shirts!
October 16th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
i’m sure he’d be just as offended by the “drill palin not alaska” shirts. there’s a crap load of palin shirts out there.
October 16th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
I’ve been wanting to make “If John McCain really were a hero, he wouldn’t have crashed his plane in Vietnam” shirts for a while now, but I’m pretty lazy. Damn, if only I knew the candidates were paying attention to these things I might’ve been a little more motivated!
October 16th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
He definitely referenced T-Shirt but who knows as to which. There are plenty of offensive ones out there, though I think the ‘cunt’ one takes the cake.
October 16th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
I think a Palin is a Va-jay-jay shirt would have been acceptable.
Being a woman myself, calling any woman the C-word, is the sleazy lowest of the low. If I saw a guy wearing any shirt calling someone a cunt, I think a swift kick in the nuts would be in order…
October 17th, 2008 at 10:15 am
People call guys dicks, pricks, cocks, etc. all the time. Just ask jburnside and mas215.
Calling Palin a Va-jay-jay is akin to calling her a “willy”, it sounds like something a grandmother would say.
She’s a cunt. No, she’s a fucking cunt. That’s better.
October 17th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
I think that getting upset about LANGUAGE is so stupid. It’s a word and people need to relax. I’m looking forward to wearing my SARAH PALIN IS A CUNT shirt to the polls on election day {though I’ll have to change into my Obama shirt before I go to work . . . I somehow doubt the cunt shirt would go over well at my conservative investment firm . . . }.
October 18th, 2008 at 11:45 am
Gee, amandamello, why don’t you tell your conservative investment firm colleagues to just relax when wearing your “cunt” shirt? You got the cojones to sport something in “public,” but not in your workplace? That’s pretty craven, “tourist subversive.”
October 18th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
@C. The Impaler
Really? I like to smoke in public, should I have the “cojones” to blow through half a pack of Camels at my desk? See, there are things very well worth getting fired for but, like smoking, your favorite t-shirt isn’t one of them. The only reason you’re on her case is because she said she worked at a conservative investment firm, which is pretty flimsy grounds to get up on your high horse. Oh I forgot, you never get off it.
October 20th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
@C. The Impaler I mean, there’s this whole thing where I’m not allowed to wear tshirts with profanity on them to work . . . actually, I’m not even supposed to wear tshirts to work at all, so the Obama shirt is pushing it.
@expat attack Thanks for backing me up here.