“We have Democratic candidates running for president right now who do not believe necessarily that it’s a good idea that women work outside the home,” she said emphatically before a women’s labor event in Iowa City, Iowa. “No joke.”
Gillibrand did not name names, and her campaign would not say whom she was referring to.
The accusation came ahead of next week’s second round of Democratic debates in Detroit and at a crucial juncture for Gillibrand, who has found little traction in the polls and is at risk of falling short of the party’s thresholds to qualify for the fall debates.
“Kirsten believes we need to have a broader and more intentional conversation about valuing women in this country and even this primary, and she intends to do so in the coming days,” said Meredith Kelly, a spokeswoman for Gillibrand. “Stay tuned.”
Gillibrand also accused some of her rivals of believing the #MeToo movement that has empowered victims of sexual violence had “gone too far.” She said some Democrats “turn a blind eye to sexual assault” and questioned whether women are being valued sufficiently in the Democratic Party, even as a record-setting number run for president.
Her remarks came days after The New Yorker reported that seven of the Democratic senators who had called for Al Franken to resign from the Senate in December 2017 now regret that decision.
Gillibrand was the first Democratic senator to call for Franken to step down after eight accusations of sexual misconduct. His allies have long blamed her for his quick downfall, even though dozens of other Democratic senators called for Franken’s resignation as well, some within minutes of Gillibrand.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.