Apr 8 5:50 PM

Michael Hayden slammed by senators for sexist language

Former NSA and CIA director Michael Hayden.
Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images.


In the past week, former NSA and CIA director General Michael Hayden has used terms like "emotional" and "sissies" to describe members of the Senate Intelligence Committee and their staff who are critical of torture and surveillance programs. The string of comments have prompted harsh criticism from Senate colleagues as well as an online discussion of the use of such terms in policy disagreements.

General Hayden's come on the heels of a Senate decision to declassify portions of the intelligence committee's 6,300 page report on the CIA's use of torture.

On Fox News Sunday, Hayden suggested that Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is too "emotional" to be objective in the Senate's forthcoming report. The comments prompted significant online backlash and mockery, with many questioning whether Hayden would ever use such terminology in reference to a man. 

Related

Topics
CIA, Senate

Find Al Jazeera America on your TV

Get email updates from Al Jazeera America

Sign up for our weekly newsletter

Get email updates from Al Jazeera America

Sign up for our weekly newsletter