The editor of The Progressive magazine believes the comments made over the weekend by a pair of feminist icons that essentially scolded young women voters for not backing Hillary Clinton ultimately hurt the Clinton campaign.

At a campaign event in New Hampshire Sunday, Madeleine Albright, the first woman to serve as U.S. secretary of state, told young women voters that the glass ceiling is still strong and stood a better chance at being shattered by supporting Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.

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

Ruth Conniff, a Wisconsin native who has been at The Progressive for more than a decade, called Albright’s comments an "incredible political misstep."

"Fundamentally, you have these older women telling younger women who are voting in droves for Bernie Sanders that they need to shape up," Conniff said. "And it's a scolding message and it compounds the problem that Hillary Clinton has, which is that she’s not inspiring young voters. Now she’s not inspiring them and she’s giving them a kick in the pants."

Conniff was also caught off guard when Gloria Steinem told Bill Maher Friday during his HBO show "Real Time" that young women are supporting Sanders because that’s where the boys are.

"Unbelieveable — I mean that is really like old-line sexism, right? This is really belittling and diminishing of young women who are part of this movement for Bernie Sanders as representing the aspirations of younger voters," Conniff said.

Steinem has since walked back her comments in a Facebook post, writing that her remarks were "misinterpreted as implying young women aren't serious in their politics."

In a case of talk-show Interruptus, I misspoke on the Bill Maher show recently, and apologize for what's been... Posted by Gloria Steinem on Sunday, February 7, 2016

Gender and sexism have become increasingly emerging themes in the Democratic presidential race, said Conniff, as poll numbers show young women gravitating towards Sanders’ message on income inequality and student debt. A recent Wall Street Journal/NBC/Marist College poll of Democratic voters in New Hampshire found that 64 percent of women under the age of 45 supported Sanders.

Others have alleged that there’s a real streak of sexism among Sanders’ supporters, who have been referred to as "Bernie Bros."

Conniff said that there’s a long tradition of sexist attacks against Clinton stretching back to when she was first lady.

"I don’t blame people for feeling defensive of (Clinton), and I agree that a lot of the criticism of her is sexist," she said. "But I also think there’s legitimate criticism of her policy positions, and also that her message is out of tune with where young people are this year."

To win over those young women voters, Conniff believes Clinton will have to tweak her message and not scold them for not supporting her.