Palin Swats Maher as 'Mosquito' for Vulgar Insult

Sarah Palin answered comedian Bill Maher’s vulgar reference to her on his HBO show with a slap of her own, squishing him as a “mosquito” on her Facebook page.

Sarah Palin

“Upon my return from an outstanding and productive trip to India and Israel, I’ve been inundated with requests to respond to petty comments made in the media the past few days, including one little fella’s comment which decent people would find degrading," she wrote.

Although the former Alaska governor and former Republican vice-presidential candidate doesn’t refer to Maher by name, it’s pretty obvious that she’s referring to him for the degrading comment he spat out on his March 18 “Real Time with Bill Maher” show. Without getting into particulars, suffice it to say that his comment was a vulgar reference that disrespects women.

A mosquito, perhaps named Bill? (Getty Images Photo)

Palin writes: “I won’t bother responding to it though, because it was made by he who reminds me of an annoying little mosquito found zipped up in your tent; he can’t do any harm, but buzzes around annoyingly until it’s time to give him the proverbial slap."


And Palin says her complaints about the mainstream media aren’t whining. “This is in the name of justice,” she writes.

Bill Maher, AKA "mosquito." (Getty Images Photo)

Maher is taking heat for the comment, including these rejoinders:

• From Yana Walton of the Women's Media Center: “Widespread sexism in the media is one of the top problems facing women, and seriously affects women in politics. A highly toxic media environment persists for women candidates, and discourages all women — irrespective of political persuasion — from running for public office. Despite the fact that women make up half of the population, we're only 17 percent of Congress. Bill Maher's misogynistic comment about Sarah Palin hurts all women, not just Palin, and not just conservative women. By insulting her gender, rather than her platform or stance on issues, he insults women as a group.”
• From the National Organization for Women’s Lisa Bennett: “Listen, supposedly progressive men (ok, and women, too): Cut the crap! Stop degrading women with whom you disagree and/or don’t like by using female body terms or other gender-associated slurs."