Carly Fiorina's 'catty' hair insult

last updated 8 January 2015

Less than a day after winning the Republican primary in California's senate race, Carly Fiorina is doing damage control — apologizing for a "catty" swipe she took at her opponent Barbara Boxer's coiffure while waiting for an interview to begin, and unaware that her microphone was live. "God, what is that hair," the former Hewlett Packard CEO said, apparently repeating a friend's comment. "Soooo yesterday." Fiorina also disparaged Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman's decision to appear on Sean Hannity's Fox News show: "I think it's a very bad choice, actually. You know what he's like." Fiorina has since apologized to Hannity, but not to Boxer. "What is this, middle school?" asks Ruth Marcus at The Washington Post. "The point of having women in politics [is] not to produce a Mean Girls sequel in the form of the California Senate race." There's a lesson here for candidates of both sexes, says Steve Benen at Washington Monthly. "One day, politicians will learn that when they're wearing a microphone, and are speaking in front of a camera, they should proceed with caution." Watch Fiorina's gaffe: