NBC News reporters were mocked by conservatives on social media for suggesting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had made a sexist dig at former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley when he quoted Ronald Reagan during Wednesday night's GOP presidential primary debate.
"We need to fly a flag of bold colors. Carrying the banner putting the American people first — not the pale pastels of the warmed-over corporatism of people like Nikki Haley," DeSantis said about his rival, according to the AP.
DeSantis was referencing a famous phrase often uttered by former President Reagan. He used it during his 1976 speech at the GOP convention to describe his vision that the Republican Party platform would stand with "bold, unmistakable colors" in contrast to the Democratic Party platform. However, the meaning behind the phrase seemed to go over several NBC reporters' heads during their coverage of the debate.
"A color scheme, ‘pale pastel’ or otherwise, is not the way you attack a presidential candidate," NBC News reporter Ali Vitali wrote on X. She questioned if DeSantis was making a sexist remark about Haley's wardrobe choices.
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"None of the men who’ve been on these debate stages have had their clothes used to criticize their policies," she added.
Vitali and another reporter doubled down on this rhetoric on NBC's live blog.
"At a certain point, the ‘pale pastels’ commentary could start to ring a little sexist. None of the male candidates are being taken to task for their bright red ties' somehow being akin to their policy stances," she wrote.
NBC reporter Alec Hernández responded to Vitali's comment on the blog by conceding that DeSantis often says this. However, he suggested it "does come off differently" when said "out of context" next to Haley on the stage.
"DeSantis’ ‘pale pastels’ reference is a line pulled from his stump speech. He often says that Republicans need to lead with 'core convictions' and govern with ‘bold colors, not pale pastels.’ That said, saying it out of context here standing next to Haley does come off differently," he wrote.
The gaffe was called out by The Federalist culture editor Emily Jashinsky on X.
"This is great. Vitali thought her jab at DeSantis was so clever, she published it on NBC News’s live blog too," she wrote on X.
Jashinksy went on to deride the political reporters for not knowing "basic political history." Several other conservative accounts and media commentators also jumped in to mock the NBC politics team's coverage of DeSantis's comment.
"Do your homework. The phrase is from a quote by Ronald Reagan. He was a president and Republican. He won 49 states when he ran for reelection," Boston Herald sports columnist Bill Speros wrote.
"You are a political reporter?" DeSantis' rapid response director Christina Pushaw teased Vitali.
NBC reporters suggested sexism was behind the remark yet again in an article published Wednesday night.
"And he [DeSantis] accused her of being inspired by Hillary Clinton and of painting, metaphorically, with ‘pale pastels’ — an eyebrow-raising word choice to attack the first female governor of South Carolina, especially because she was wearing a pastel top. DeSantis used the phrase multiple times," the report by Alex Seitz-Wald said.
NBC News declined to comment on the matter.
