New York’s self-proclaimed feminist governor, Kathy Hochul, set off a social media firestorm after strapping on a black hijab to address a crowd at an Islamic center last Friday.
Video showed Hochul in a hijab while addressing Muslim religious and community leaders in New York as the nation prepares for the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks carried out by radical Muslims.
The pandering didn’t go unnoticed. Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) blasted the Democratic governor, exposing the Left’s favorite cultural wedge issue.
“Democrats: ‘Sexist Republicans are turning America into the Handmaid’s Tale!’ Also Democrats:” Gill posted on X, attaching the photo of Hochul decked out in her headscarf.
Democrats: "Sexist Republicans are turning America into the Handmaid's Tale!"
Also Democrats: pic.twitter.com/7lWhOtvXFN
— Brandon Gill (@realBrandonGill) August 30, 2026
Critics were quick to point out that this wasn’t Hochul’s first time donning the headscarf. She previously wore one at the July 2025 funeral for slain NYPD officer Didarul Islam. As RedState noted, female Democratic leaders including former Secretary of State and first lady Hillary Clinton, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), and Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan have all put on hijabs to appeal to Muslim voters.
Democrats have obsessively weaponized Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel “The Handmaid’s Tale” to attack conservatives. For years, Democrats and their media cheerleaders have pushed the narrative that conservative policies will turn America into the fictional, totalitarian “Republic of Gilead.”
Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ) dramatically claimed in 2024 that “we’re living in the Handmaid’s Tale – in the state of Arizona.”
“We’re living in the Handmaid’s Tale – in the state of Arizona – in 2024.
This is no longer a book of fiction by Margaret Atwood… set in the Republic of Gilead… where women are powerless and ruled by men.”
— my high school AP English teacher, Sen. @ChristinePMarsh. https://t.co/V8aV02bX9x
— Yassamin Ansari (@yassaminansari) April 11, 2024
Meanwhile, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) explicitly validated the smear during a national TV interview, agreeing that fears of a GOP-led “Gilead” were “not hyperbolic.”
Nobody loves the analogy more than former MSNBC host Joy Reid, who routinely brands red states like Texas as “Handmaid’s Tale” territory and rants about “the Republicans of Gilead.” Over on “The View,” Sunny Hostin publicly shamed Republican women, sneering: “Do they want to live in Gilead?”
Left-wing groups like Democrats Abroad have published entire presentations directly comparing GOP platform initiatives and Project 2025 to Atwood’s novel. Leftist protesters frequently march in crimson robes and white bonnets, while liberal pundits routinely slap the “Handmaid” label on conservative women like Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL).
Democrats will relentlessly smear conservatives as oppressive “Gilead” bosses for supporting pro-life values, yet turn around and eagerly drape themselves in religious coverings without a second thought.
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