Dems seize on comments to paint GOP as unfriendly to women

Democrats are seizing on comments by top conservatives to advance a narrative that the Republican Party is hostile to women.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has gone to great lengths over the last 24 hours to blast comments by Republican National Committee (RNC) Co-chairman Jan Larimer suggesting that women candidates need "a little more handholding," and on Wednesday went after comments by conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh mocking the women's movement.

Limbaugh, who served as a judge for the Miss America pageant, said he "love[s] the women’s movement — especially when walking behind it," during an appearance on the Fox News network this morning.

DNC executive director Jen O'Malley Dillon shot back quickly at Limbaugh early this afternoon, seeking to tie the controversial conservative's remarks to Larimer's.

"Rush Limbaugh’s misogynistic comments are outrageous, but unfortunately are not surprising coming from a party whose official in charge of recruiting women candidates believes that women ‘need a little more handholding,'" she said in a statement.

The strategy behind that statement mirrors one the DNC had taken shortly before the gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia last fall, in which Democrats worked to craft a message that the GOP was sexist and out of touch with women voters.

O'Malley Dillon made a similar criticism against the GOP on Wednesday.

"It’s stunning, but also telling of why the GOP continues to struggle with women that no Republican including Chairman Steele has condemned these sentiments from their leadership," she said.