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Hillary Hoe: Clinton Supporter Nickname Not Sexist, Claim Bernie Sanders Supporters

By Patrick Frye

From the archive: published Mar 6, 2016, 10 years ago. Details may have changed since.

The Hillary Hoe and the Bernie Bro certainly would make for angry dance partners. If they represented Mr. and Mrs. Democrat, they would be heel-stomping and shin-kicking all the way to the final note of their political performance. Although neither Hillary Clinton nor Bernie Sanders has officially endorsed the usage of such slang, you have to wonder where these ideas are coming from and the intentions behind them.

In the modern game of politics, often times a catchy nickname or a slogan is all it takes to gain the lead, if only by a small few points. In the past several months, some Hillary supporters have attempted to paint Bernie supporters as being sexist and misogynistic. In response, some critics have claimed the Bernie Bro concept is simply a “handy, all-purpose pro-Clinton smear” meant to “inherently delegitimize all critics of Hillary Clinton by accusing them of, or at least associating them with, sexism.”

Such tactics are not new to the Clinton campaign. Back in 2008, Hillary supporters also had a nickname for those deemed to be sexist: they were called Obama Boys. In recent times, feminist icon Madeleine Albright even suggested that female Bernie Sanders supporters have a “special place in hell” for not taking Hillary’s side during the Democratic primaries.

“We can tell our story of how we climbed the ladder, and a lot of you younger women think it’s done,” Albright said. “It’s not done. There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other!”

Bernie Sanders will need the enthusiasm shown at his rallies to also appear at the ballot box (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Bernie Sanders supporters have struck back by creating their own nickname: the Hillary Hoe. This concept obviously is attempting to make a rhyme using Hillary’s name, but unfortunately the result makes Bernie supporters seem as sexist as the stereotypical Bernie Bro is supposed to be.

Based upon comments from social media, not all of the Bernie supporters are intending for the nickname to be sexist. As some seem to understand the meaning behind the nickname, a Hillary Hoe is a Clinton supporter who defies all facts or lies on behalf of their favored Democrat. A Hillary Hoe can also be a Clinton supporter who is just far too aggressive in promoting Clinton. A Hillary Hoe can also be a man or a woman, so — depending on the context — it’s implied the slang need not be necessarily sexist.

Either way, the nickname is definitely intended as an insult, as can be seen by these two Twitter tweets.

Still, the Bernie Sanders campaign probably is doing its best to discourage such terminology since Hillary Hoe only reinforces the stereotype. The Bernie Bro nickname is relatively free of backlash for the creator, whereas the term hoe… well, that should be obvious. Unless you are speaking of a gardening tool, hoe is intrinsically a negative term, while Bro can be used in either context.

The Bernie Bro came about largely due to various internet memes using the term Bro. The concept can be attached to any topic to denote an immature young dude who is acting out. Hence, we have Call Of Duty Bros, who threaten obscene acts on your mother while playing a video game. There is also the Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli, who attempted to get rich off raising the price of a life-saving drug. College Bros are also known for causing mischief at universities, but sometimes they’ll raise money for charity.

Regardless of the meaning or intention behind the anti-Hillary Clinton nickname, in the end some Democrats are simply hoping both the Hillary Hoe and the Bernie Bro will stop fighting each other for the sake of the Democratic Party.

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