I’m just here for the ratio. And to find out whether this is an apple or a banana, of course. Bill Weir, CNN’s climate-change beat reporter, decided to decode an otherwise anodyne campaign message from Kelly Loeffler for the US Senate runoff in Georgia. Loeffler embedded a clip from a Fox interview in which she talks about working her way from the farm to Wall Street.

Weir decided to take a potshot at Loeffler by accusing her of sleeping her way to success. This is CNN, apparently:

Good news, Georgia!
If you live on a farm, you now qualify to marry the Chairman of the New York Stock Exchange! https://t.co/dLXFantplB

— Bill Weir (@BillWeirCNN) November 18, 2020

I’ve got the screen-shot just in case, but so far Weir hasn’t deleted the tweet. As of this writing, the ratio is around 3:1 and growing. (Update: For some reason the counts reset and now it’s off the charts.) It prompted almost immediate pushback, with Loeffler colleague and fellow farmer Joni Ernst succinctly pointing out the obvious:

1. This is outrageous sexism.

2. Women who grow up on a farm can do anything we want to do, and yes, that includes be a United States Senator. https://t.co/JsqLJtZpAl

— Joni Ernst (@joniernst) November 18, 2020

1. Yes, obviously.
2. Yes, obviously.

It’s true that Loeffler did get married to Jeff Sprecher, but she had worked to put herself through college and leveraged her inheritance to get an MBA long before going to work for Intercontinental Exchange. Loeffler’s resumé included significant positions at Toyota, Citibank, and Crossroads long before Sprecher entered into her life. She ran Bakkt on her own before her appointment to the US Senate, turning it into a successful subsidiary for IE, especially in Bitcoin trading.

It’s tempting to play Imagine if a Republican said this, but it’s even weirder than that. Why did a CNN reporter feel compelled to make this remark in the first place — especially a climate change reporter? Isn’t CNN supposed to be in the business of telling apart apples and bananas rather than engaging in electioneering? Even if one discounts the sexism, it’s still sneering, condescending, and ignorant, not to mention rude. It’s almost certainly going to come across that way to Georgians who know Loeffler better than Weir does, which is perhaps a gift to Loeffler and the GOP for the next few weeks.

Weir appears to be neither apple or banana, but more of a nut.

Update: Will CNN enforce its lectures on its own staff?

Uhoh, Bill needs to read his own website https://t.co/B4oGfgc0ZO pic.twitter.com/OKbP9xZBpg

— Olivia PC (@olivia_pc) November 18, 2020