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Sexist Attacks On GOP Debate Moderator Becky Quick

by Lauren Holter

As the anchor of CNBC's On the Money and the co-anchor of Squawk Box, Becky Quick was one of three moderators in the third GOP debate Wednesday night. She was the only female moderator, and had to deal with a lot of sexist attacks from debate viewers online and the Republican candidates she was questioning. If you looked at every time a man silenced Quick during the debate, you'd quickly realize that she was treated differently than her colleagues, Carl Quintanilla and John Harwood.

Each GOP debate so far has had one female moderator hosting alongside two male journalists, and we've seen how the women received very different types of criticism and treatment, beginning with Donald Trump blaming Fox News' Megyn Kelly's tough questioning of his past misogynistic behavior on "blood coming out of her whatever." Quick didn't get into a feud with Trump, but there were plenty of sexist attacks thrown her way throughout the debate, mostly when men talked over her or tried to shut her up. As an experienced journalist, Quick handled the situations fairly well, but the point is that the men in the room felt they had the right to disregard her voice and authority.

Here's every time a man tried to silence Quick at the third GOP debate.

When Ben Carson Didn't Want To Hear Her Math

Quick's first question was for Ben Carson about his flat tax plan. Pointing out the huge deficit a 10 percent flat tax plan would create, she asked, "What analysis got you to the point where you think this will work?" After Carson explained that he didn't say it would necessarily be a rate of 10 percent, Quick chimed in to say that it would realistically have to be closer to 28 percent, and Carson kept trying to talk over her. She continued questioning Carson about tax reform, saying that even with his proposed 15 percent flat tax plan, there would be a $1.1 trillion hole that would require cutting about 40 percent of the government, and Carson claimed that she was lying. He said, "That's not true," and asserted that she had done the math wrong.

When Marco Rubio Didn't Want To Talk About His Money Problems

Quick brought up Marco Rubio's various financial struggles in order to ask whether he has the maturity to handle the country's economy. Rubio immediately attacked her question, saying: "Well, you just — you just listed a litany of discredited attacks from Democrats and my political opponents, and I'm not gonna waste 60 seconds detailing them all." When she continued the question after his explanation, he tried to change the subject to his book. He said: "And I used it to pay off my loans. And it's available on paperback, if you're interested in buying my book."

When Donald Trump Acted Like She Was Crazy

When Quick asked Trump about calling Rubio Mark Zuckerberg's personal senator for favoring H1B visas, Trump said "I never said that," and acted like Quick made it up. After a commercial break, Quick told Trump that she found where she read the quote, and that it was on donaldjtrump.com, forcing him to actually comment on H1B visas.

When Mike Huckabee Wouldn't Shut Up

Huckabee had a very long-winded response when Quick asked how he would reduce income inequality. When she tried to get the former Arkansas governor to wrap it up, he snapped at her. "Thank you. Now, everybody else has fudged their time and gone over, so please, don't cut me off too quick, Becky." Even after she gave him an extra 15 seconds, she still had to repeatedly ask him to stop talking.

Images: CNBC/YouTube (1); Charles Walton/YouTube (1)