On one of batshit family-values conservative Christine O’Donnell’s Politically Incorrect appearances, she was confronted by none other than Ben Affleck. He said she had a little “Monica flair” to her, and then mocked and flirted with her.
It was January 1999, and Ben Affleck was joining a show where Christine O’Donnell, now the Republican nominee for Senator from Delaware, was a regular. Maher recently told Larry King, “We loved Christine O’Donnell. I still like her. You cannot not like her. She is such a nice person. We have a great clip that used to be on the highlight reel of Ben Affleck on that show just saying, ‘Please, Christine, shut up!’, because, I guess, she would just go on.”
That’s not exactly how it went, though another guest did tell O’Donnell he would pay her to stop talking. According to a transcript, Affleck made fun of her for saying she talked to Jesus, and the discussion moved to, unsurprisingly, dating and sexual purity.
Christine: No, because it goes beyond sex. It goes beyond sex. Can I just tell you, if you’ve never experienced the blessing of living in obedience to God, then what he’s saying sounds so far out to you. But when you —
Ben: Living in obedience I understand. [ Laughter ]
Christine: But because —
Ben: You see that on Santa Monica Boulevard all the time. There’s one guy, another guy’s on a chain.
Christine: No, when you just have the blessing —
Ben: It’s not my lifestyle. [Laughter and applause ]
It’s not that we don’t agree with him about her positions. It’s just that he sounds so goddamn smug. It went on from there. Another Christian-right guest on the show, Joshua Harris, had published a book called I Kissed Dating Goodbye, in which he apparently suggested women could help advance the cause by not wearing revealing clothing. Affleck turned the spotlight on O’Donnell:
Ben: Do you think those are provocative clothes that this woman is wearing, or not provocative?
Christine: Way to put me on the spot. [Laughter] Wait a minute. [Laughter and applause] I finally take a risk and wear something flashy.
Ben: That’s very sassy.
Later, Bill Maher appeared to be joking that he and O’Donnell “had a thing, and it was all sex.” She replied, “Yeah, my friends are going to believe that… He lives in another world.”
The conversation moved to impeachment proceedings against Bill Clinton, and O’Donnell and Affleck fought over who got to talk:
Christine: He lied to a grand jury. He lied under oath. If we don’t take that as serious —
Ben: Hold on, hold on. Please, I’m begging you, stop for one second.
Christine: Let me finish my point. [Laughter]
Ben: I’m asking you, please!
Christine: Ten more seconds to make my point.
Ben: I just want to ask you one question.
Christine: Yeah, get on your knees.
Of course, when Christine O’Donnell tells someone to get on his knees, she’s talking about prayer! After Bill Maher said that O’Donnell’s real problem was that “he had sex with a Jew on Easter,” Ben Affleck tried again to get a word in edgewise, saying, “Honey, I’m begging you now, please, hold on!” And then another guest, Steven Wright, told O’Donnell,
You would look amazing in a black bathing suit. [Cheers and applause]
The male guests weren’t done baiting O’Donnell and making creepy comments about her looks:
Ben: I got it. I know what it is. You know why it bothers you so much? ‘Cause you have a certain, like, Monica flair about you.
Bill: Yeah.
Ben: A little bit.
Bill: Hey, thank you. This was a great panel.
Thanks, smug white liberal guys! Reading how she tried to make an argument (however wrongheaded), as you reduced her to her appearance managed to make us passingly sympathetic to a woman with whom we vigorously disagree in every possible way.
Ben On Politically Incorrect [The Unofficial Ben and Casey Affleck Site]
Illustration by Gizmodo illustrator Sam Spratt. Check out Sam’s portfolio and become a fan of his Facebook Artist’s Page.