Is it 'sexist' to call Michele Bachmann a 'flake'?

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last updated 8 January 2015

The video: On Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace grilled Republican presidential candidate Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) about her "history of questionable statements, some would say gaffes," wrapping up with the question: "Are you a flake?" (Watch the exchange below.) A taken-aback Bachmann maintained that she's a "serious person" and a serious candidate, and called the question "insulting." She was obviously not the only one to see it that way — a barrage of criticism targeted Wallace and, within hours, he apologized for using the word "flake."

The reaction: I don't agree with Bachmann's politics, says Taylor Marsh at her blog, but she certainly doesn't deserve "the sexist double-standard that floats for 'fair and balanced' at Fox" and the "good old Republican boys' club." Hold on, says Doug Mataconis at Outside the Beltway. Wallace was making a "perfectly legitimate" point, and Bachmann obviously handles the tough questions better than her whining fans do. The "sexism canard" is nothing compared with the constant anti-Obama vitriol from the Right, so maybe it's just that "any perceived insult of a conservative, even on Fox, is now verboten." Judge for yourself: