The context was "the left .. not capable of having reasoned debate even before the election. They prefer to shut it down."

Pre-election a similar thing happened to James Watson and Larry Summers - eg here is shutting down conversation about humans not being blank slates:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/18/us/harvard-chief-defends-h...

"When he started talking about innate differences in aptitude between men and women, I just couldn't breathe because this kind of bias makes me physically ill," Dr. Hopkins said.