Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand Says Colleague Who Called Her Fat Is Southern

On The Daily Show, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand delved into important issues like sexual assault and gender equality but then she dropped a bomb in passing -— the man who called her “chubby” is a Southern congressman.

Take a second to ponder that information. We are just that little bit closer to identifying the sleaze.

With stupidity falling down like rain all around her, Jon Stewart asked Sen. Gillibrand how she didn’t just look at the C-Span cameras on the Senate floor and say “Fuck these guys!” She admitted it’s not easy.

“When a Southern congressman equates you being eight-months pregnant with being fat, that’s outrageous!” she said. “I look at him like he must be from a different planet because it’s not appropriate, it’s so far outside what should be said. But I really had a tougher time with this kind of thing when I was young. I didn’t have the tools or the power.”

Early in her career, instead of compliments on her clothes, Gillibrand said she wanted kudos on her hard work as a lawyer. Now, she’s using her new book Off The Sidelines, where she outed her colleagues for body shaming (and sexually harassing) her, to discuss the importance of women’s voices and how so many are often victim-blamed, like Janay Rice, when they do speak up about their abuse or mistreatment.

“Women need to be heard in all of the issues that are important to them, because they’re not.”