Story highlights
She asks, 'Why couldn't they find one woman' to join the panel?
'We have no interest in playing identity politics,' a GOP aide says
CNN host Erin Burnett was incredulous Friday after the Senate announced the 13 Republican senators who will be responsible for crafting President Trump’s new health care plan – and all of them are white men.
“Thirteen men are deciding the future of American health care tonight,” Burnett announced on her show, “‘OutFront.”
“They are the Republican senators who will take the House bill passed (Thursday) and craft a Senate version called Trumpcare. That version could be the law of the land, and there is not one woman at the table to represent more than half the population of this country.”
The CNN host then showed pictures of the 13 senators, who include Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch and Ted Cruz of Texas.
“There they are,” Burnett announced, before launching into a scathing critique.
“Why couldn’t they find one woman to represent the concerns of 126 million female adults in the United States of America?” she said.
“What can they realistically bring to the table when the conversation turns to, let’s just say, childbirth, maternity leave, ovarian cancer or breast cancer?” she added.
Burnett then read aloud a statement, obtained by CNN’s Dana Bash from a senator’s aide, that appeared to defend the makeup of the group.
“We have no interest in playing identity politics that’s not what this is about, it’s about getting a job done,” the statement read. “To reduce this to gender, race or geography misses the more important point of the diverse segments of the conference the group represents on policies.”
The explanation did not appear to be satisfactory to Burnett.
“Well, apparently that’s what good governing is these days, according to those 13 white men,” she said.