The moment actress Cynthia Nixon announced on Monday that she would challenge New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary this fall, she was mocked by establishmentarians. Best known for playing lawyer Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series Sex and the City, Nixon has no experience in elected office, although she’s been a longtime activist on public education and LGBT rights.

“Cynthia Nixon was opposed to having a qualified lesbian become mayor of New York City,” former New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn told The New York Post, a reference to Nixon’s endorsement of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio over Quinn in the 2013 mayoral election. “Now she wants an unqualified lesbian to be the governor of New York. You have to be qualified and have experience. She isn’t qualified to be the governor.” Quinn added, “Being an actress and celebrity doesn’t make you qualified for public office. This is a time to move away from celebrity and toward progressive leadership.”

The phrase “unqualified lesbian” drew scrutiny for several reasons, not least because Nixon is a bisexual. Still, the essence of Quinn’s argument has been widely echoed. The New York Daily News editorialized, “At a time when a certain famous person, having promised to bring fresh air to Washington, has polluted the capital with equal parts ignorance, confusion and corruption, New Yorkers ought to be wary of a broad-brush celebrity candidacy.”

Though the abrasive Cuomo isn’t quite adored by his party, he has amassed significant power; the Democratic political establishment is expected to back his reelection bid. New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, whose progressive politics and commitment to feminism resemble Nixon’s, endorsed Cuomo on Tuesday. “Governor Cuomo and I are friends,” she said. “But he also has done some amazing things for New York, such as passing paid leave in our state, passing marriage equality and working to end sexual violence on our college campuses.”

The case against Nixon rests on the figure The New York Daily News alluded to: Donald Trump. While the president is Exhibit A in the case against celebrity politicians, his victory in 2016 proves that many Americans reject the notion that politicians must be “qualified.” Candidates for most public offices need only meet certain citizenship, residency, and age requirements, and win the plurality of the vote (or sometimes, in the case of presidential elections like Trump’s, even a minority of the vote will do).