'What is wrong with you?' ABC News' Matthew Dowd rightly throttled for vicious, sexist dismissal of GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik; UPDATED

Rep. Elise Stefanik has a well deserved reputation as one of the most reasonable, well spoken Republican politicians out there. But she’s young and female — and did we mention Republican? — so ABC News chief political analyst Matthew Dowd wants to tear her down.

Since he can’t do it on intellectual merits, he’s opted to go this route:

Elise stefanik is a perfect example of why just electing someone because they are a woman or a millennial doesn’t necessarily get you the leaders we need.

— Matthew Dowd (@matthewjdowd) November 13, 2019

Class act, that Matthew Dowd.

What is the evidence she was elected because she is a woman other than that she is a woman?

— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) November 13, 2019

You are missing the point.

— Matthew Dowd (@matthewjdowd) November 13, 2019

Seems like Matt’s the one missing the point. The point being that he’s a sexist jerk.

pic.twitter.com/bQEvRn1MK6

— Jake Wilkins (@JakeWilkns) November 13, 2019

pic.twitter.com/IqN54ihr9F

— Chris Martin (@chrisjdmartin) November 13, 2019

Wtf is this https://t.co/xHp3ePUDBR

— Elliott Schwartz (@elliosch) November 13, 2019

what is wrong with you?

— Andrew Wagner (@andrewwagner) November 13, 2019

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

This from @matthewjdowd is either media bias, or sexism, or both.

And if you think those are the reasons @EliseStefanik was elected (3x), you either don't know her or you don't know her district (or both).@ABC should prove they are not sexist or biased by revoking his title. https://t.co/dIVAu7OFA0

— Bob Honold (@BobbyHonold) November 13, 2019

Dowd has become a very bad person or an ill one. I cannot say which. https://t.co/mzaQRAMcl1

— Nathan Wurtzel (@NathanWurtzel) November 13, 2019

Stefanik’s GOP colleague Mark Meadows also defended Stefanik:

Elise did a great job laying out the facts. And, not least of all, this comment is reprehensible. https://t.co/Rf6CqbRtmR

— Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) November 13, 2019

His words were appreciated, though Stefanik is quite capable of defending herself, too. We’ll give her the last word:

Thx @RepMarkMeadows ! It’s a good thing I wasn’t raised to measure my self-worth or professional work based on tweets from self-important @MSNBC commentators like Dowd (who is he again?)! I earn support from #NY21 voters bc of my focus on keeping my promises & delivering #Results https://t.co/o3BvcWh1NQ

— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) November 13, 2019

***

Update:

Hold up, guys. Matthew’s not a jackass; he’s just misunderstood:

I think people are misunderstand my tweet. So I will delete. I am saying just saying we need more millennials or more women isn’t going to solve the problem of needing more leaders with integrity. Vote integrity no matter what. https://t.co/xdUdgQVyaV

— Matthew Dowd (@matthewjdowd) November 13, 2019

Sure, Jan.

Matt, you deleted your disgusting tweet not because it was misunderstood, but because Americans correctly saw it for what it was: completely unacceptable. https://t.co/JCQjVRJ8EM

— Leonardo Alcivar (@alcivar) November 13, 2019

So now you're saying Elise doesn't have integrity on top of saying she was elected as a token? Maybe put the shovel down.

— Lyndsey Fifield (@lyndseyfifield) November 13, 2019

***

Update:

He’s so sorry, you guys.

Hey @EliseStefanik I just want to apologize for a tweet that is being misinterpreted. I didn’t mean to suggest you were elected only because you were a woman or a millennial. I deleted the tweet.

— Matthew Dowd (@matthewjdowd) November 13, 2019

He deleted the tweet. So no harm, no foul, right?

Well, all the same, just to be safe: