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Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) added his own colorful flourish in his questioning.
“You called Sen. Sanders everything but an ignorant slut,” he said.
Sanders did not shy away from addressing the issue himself, noting a letter from Republicans on the House Budget Committee compiling a litany of complaints against Tanden.
“I think most of us understand that we debate the issues and try to minimize the level of personal vicious attacks that seem to be so prevalent all over this country today,” Sanders said.
“Of course, your attacks were not just made against Republicans. There were vicious attacks against progressives, people who I have worked with, me personally,” he added, before asking Tanden to “reflect” on her past rhetoric.
“I’m very disturbed about your personal comments about people. It’s not just one or two, I think you deleted a thousand tweets. And it wasn’t just about Republicans,” Kennedy said. He added: “I mean, you called Sen. Sanders everything but an ignorant slut.”
Tanden fired back, “That is not — that is not true, Senator.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) could be heard joking into a hot mic, “I wouldn’t have said ignorant!”
Tanden said, “I feel terribly” about the attack tweets and that “I must have meant them, but I really regret them.”
Kennedy closed his remarks by clarifying, “I want the record to reflect that I did not call Sen. Sanders an ignorant slut.”
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Tanden recently deleted more than 1,000 of her insult-laden tweets that attacked GOP senators but also trashed the 2016 Sanders presidential bid as Russia’s choice against party favorite Hillary Clinton.
Sanders opened the hearing noting that Tanden had attacked leftists in addition to Republicans.
“Your attacks were not just made against Republicans. There were vicious attacks made against progressives, people who I have worked,” Sanders said.
“We need serious work on serious issues and not personal attacks on anybody, whether they’re on the left or the right.”
If confirmed, Tanden will hold a powerful post to implement Biden’s policies across the federal bureaucracy.
Because the Senate is divided 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, Sanders’ vote is needed to confirm Tanden as director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Sanders told Tanden he’s also concerned about her role soliciting millions of dollars in corporate donations as president of the Democratic Party-aligned Center for American Progress.
Kennedy often uses the term “ignorant slut” in public remarks — apparently inspired by the 1970s Dan Aykroyd-Jane Curtin take on the old “60 Minutes” segment “Point-Counterpoint” on the original “Saturday Night Live.”
It was Tanden’s second confirmation hearing. She also apologized for her tweeting habits during a Tuesday appearance before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) reminded her Tuesday, “You wrote that Susan Collins is ‘the worst,’ that Tom Cotton is a fraud, that vampires have more heart than Ted Cruz, you called Leader McConnell ‘Moscow Mitch’ and Voldemort.”
Kennedy & Sanders Confront Biden OMB Nominee Neera Tanden 2/10/2021 https://t.co/QGN0kkQwkV
— HYGO News (@HygoNews) February 10, 2021