New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand isn't commenting on reports that late Hawaiian Democratic Sen. Daniel Inouye was the lawmaker she described in her memoir as calling her "chubby."
In her book, "Off the Sidelines," Gillibrand told of how male lawmakers made inappropriate comments about her opinion, including one senior senator who squeezed her around the waist and told her "don't lose too much weight now. I like my girls chubby," reports
The New York Times.
Sources told The Times that the offending senator was Hawaii's much-beloved Inouye. Gillibrand has not disclosed any names of any of the male colleagues she discussed in her book, including Inouye's.
Inouye had been well regarded by his colleagues in Hawaii and in the Senate, and was a supporter of women's issues. But back in 1992, his hairdresser accused him of allegedly forcing her to have sex with him, a claim that turned into a serious campaign issue with a Hawaii state senator reporting that nine other women claimed to be harassed by Inouye.
The women did not move forward with their accusations, which have been largely forgotten about over the years.
In her book, GIllibrand called Inouye "one of my favorite older members of the Senate." When Inouye died in 2012, he had been the longest-serving Senator and chaired the Appropriations Committee.
The comment The Times attributed to Inouye was not the only one made about Gillibrand's weight, while she was pregnant and after she'd had a child, reports
People Magazine. She said one senator told her "Good thing you're working out, because you wouldn't want to get porky," and another one told her "You know, Kirsten, you're even pretty when you're fat."
She told People, though, that the men didn't know better, and even the man who told her she didn't want to get "porky" had "sweet" intentions, "even if he was being an idiot."
Gillibrand told People the men didn't know better than to say the things they did to her, with many of the comments coming while she was pregnant and after she'd had her baby.
"It was all statements that were being made by men who were well into their 60s, 70s or 80s,” she said. "They had no clue that those are inappropriate things to say to a pregnant woman or a woman who just had a baby or to women in general.”
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Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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