“People don’t like the woman involved in the government”: Rodolfo Hernández is ambiguous in a radio interview and criticism rains down on him

The presidential candidate misunderstood a question from Marcelo Cezán and became the target of criticism on social networks

Hernández interpreted that they were asking him about his wife, Socorro. REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez

The former mayor of Bucaramanga and candidate for the Presidency of Colombia, Rodolfo Hernández, is a walking controversy. In addition to refusing to participate in the debates that the media organized in the week before the first round, he is provoking criticism during the media tour that he is running in parallel to his opponents . However, the scandal that will be described below occurred unintentionally.

During the morning of this Thursday, May 26, the real estate entrepreneur went to an appointment at the Bésame radio station , which is mainly dedicated to streaming romantic music in Spanish. In this intervention, which did not last much more than 15 minutes, Hernández was asked about his proposals and his family life. However, a piece of the interview was taken out of context and went viral.

The well-known actor and presenter Marcelo Cezán, who hosts the morning magazine show on this music station, he asked the engineer “do you believe in the work of women, in the direction of women directing things, governing in some way?”. Faced with that question, Hernández replied: “No, no. It is good that she makes the comments and supports from home. The woman, involved in the government, people do not like.”

Some users of social networks interpreted this response as a sign of misogyny on the part of Hernández, who, it is possible remember, he chose teacher Marelen Castillo as his vice-presidential formula—which, in his particular case, takes on special importance given the age of the engineer—.

Given the barrage of criticism that this fragment of the interview dragged, the station had to publish the full link to put the response in context. Hernández began the conversation by talking about his wife, Socorro Oliveros.

Hernández explained that he has been married for more than 50 years and that, contrary to what his public person, considers himself a docile husband. Cezán’s question sought to know the role that Socorro would play as first lady in the event of a triumph for the engineer.

“Nerd. It is good that she makes the comments and supports from home. The woman, involved in the government, people do not like because they see that she is invasive, that she was not the one they chose: they chose her, it was her husband. So, if there is something she has to tell me, Socorro, my wife, she will tell me at home. “Man, I’m looking at that, let’s analyze that.” But not being stuck there with a car, a driver, advisers, spending money for the citizens. We are not for that. This next government has to get its act together, to save.”

Cezán himself made the clarification about what the guest said to the station through his Twitter account.

“It is out of context. He spoke of the style of his wife Socorro. That he doesn’t like to appear in public, that he prefers to whisper in her ear at home and not appear in public events. Heard raw it sounds ugly but in fact I was the one who asked him the question. And I think it was misunderstood,” noted presenter Édgar Alfredo Gómez.

The engineer shared the commentator’s note and added that the sheaves are taking out their words of context on purpose as an excuse to attack him.

“Thank you very much Marcelo for the clarification. A decontextualized statement will always be cannon fodder for the sheaves. I am talking about the role of MY wife in my government, not about women in general,” Hernández said.