Bernie Sanders mocked for failing to differentiate equity vs equality: 'Everybody knows the difference'

Sen. Bernie Sanders has drawn criticism for being unable to explain the difference between equity and equality. 

Sanders, I-Vt., was asked by comedian Bill Maher on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" to differentiate between the two words, but the self-avowed socialist said, "I don’t know what the answer to that is."

Fox News' Greg Gutfeld argued on "The Five" Monday that Sanders' confusion was "intentional." 

"They want to replace the word ‘equality’ with ‘equity’, but with equality, everybody has the opportunity from below to excel. So the starting blocks are the same. Equity requires that everyone finish the same, you know, which means there has to be force from above to keep everybody down, which is absolute fascism," he explained. 

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"This isn't a subtle distinction. It's like the most important distinction in the world. The only way to unite people is equality, the only way to divide people [is] equity. That is why you see equity being favored by people in power, because it keeps us divided."

"Five" co-host Judge Jeanine Pirro had a different take, saying she wasn't sure if she should congratulate Sanders or pity him. "Congratulate him because, you know, he came around. Or pity him because he either doesn't remember. Or he's a liar. So that's all I have to say," she said before adding the "whole thing was scary." 

"Everybody knows the difference between equality and equity. Everybody."

Fellow co-host Dana Perino argued Sanders could have struggled to remember the definitions because he was put on the spot, but ultimately said he should have been able to define the terms. 

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"If put on the spot would I have to think about it for a second? Maybe. Because equity has become this word that you hear all the time," she said. "In fact, it's so ingrained in our society that even Joe Biden, the president, has issued an executive order making sure that there would be equity across the entire government and now people are pushing back on that. They don't want it necessarily. And it turns out, guess what? Bernie Sanders doesn't want it either."