You all probably looked at the title and rolled your eyes but let me elaborate why I think that a lot of the criticism of Joe Biden is driven by sexism. First, and most obviously, Joe Biden has been called the Hillary Clinton of 2020. I don’t think I need to explain why this is sexist. It is always meant as a criticism of Biden but never explained as to why it’s a bad thing. Why are we supposed to assume that “Hillary Clinton” has a negative connotation?

The media’s portrayal of Biden as the “Hillary Clinton of 2020” also underlies a lot of the gendered criticism directed at Biden. People call Biden “unlikeable,” “inept,” “temperamental.” I even heard someone call Joe Biden “bossy” which was made me start thinking about the sexism of Joe Biden criticism. If you do not know already, these are all gendered terms and are used to describe women in positions of power.

Interestingly enough, a lot of the positive gendered terms used to describe women are also used to describe Biden (and to a lesser extent Beto but we won’t get into that). People like Biden because he has Charisma and he’s “enthusiastic” and “energetic.”

Let’s discuss the elephant in the room. Joe Biden was credibly accused of sexual misconduct. I am in no way excusing his behavior. What he did was wrong and I absolutely believe his accusers. However, I think we can all be adults and understand that this is in no way comparable to Donald Trump’s sexual harassment accusations, and it is also in no way comparable to credible accusations of sexual harassment on Bernie Sanders’ campaign. And to be honest, I’d much rather have someone who has acted inappropriate around women than someone who is a bystander to sexual harassment. Biden is a little too touchy with women which in no way tells us anything about how he will crackdown on sexual harassment. Bernie’s ignorance on his campaign is an example of Bernie in a leadership role, which tells us that Bernie will likely not crack down on sexual harassment as the president.

Now you made be asking, “There are plenty of women in this campaign. Why are you discussing sexism towards Biden of all people?” Look, this race has 20 people in it. Of course there is sexism towards Harris, Warren, Klobucher and Gillibrand, and that has been discussed extensively. The reason that I’m focusing on Biden is because he has the best chance of anyone besides Bernie to be the 2020 Democratic nominee.

If the race narrows down to Bernie and Biden, I think it’s pretty clear that Biden would become the “woman” of the race. This is shown in the gendered terms used to describe Biden and his portrayal in the media as the “HIllary Clinton of 2020.” I don’t think I need to explain why Hillary Clinton experienced sexism in the media in 2016, and if Biden has been given similar treatment in the media then I think it’s fair to say that his treatment has been at least partly motivated by misogyny.