Senator Program Cassidy of Louisiana had a terrible choice of words while discussing how he would persuade conservatives to support President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill. Cassidy was attempting to offer examples of how rebuilding America’s roads and bridges will benefit the average constituent during a Sunday interview on Meet the Press. Being trapped in traffic is a bipartisan issue that no one likes, regardless of which side of the aisle they are on, and Cassidy was correct in emphasizing that most people would rather spend time with their families than waste “three hours a day” in their car. There’s nothing controversial about that.
However, things took a slightly sexist turn when Cassidy described how the infrastructure problem would affect women. Via Raw Story:
“My wife says that roads and bridges are a woman’s problem if you will,” the senator added. “Because oftentimes it is the woman — aside from commuting to work — who’s also taking children to schools or doing the shopping. And the more time that she spends on that road, the less time she spends doing things of higher value.”
Granted, Cassidy’s goal was to persuade Republicans to support the infrastructure plan, but relegating the matter to a “woman’s problem” (because they do all of the “shopping”) isn’t the most diplomatic approach. It’s getting a lot of attention, but for all the wrong reasons.
