The late Sen. Daniel Inouye is allegedly the lawmaker who told Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, New York Democrat, that he liked his girls chubby, The New York Times reported Monday.
Ms. Gillibrand’s memoir “Off the Sidelines,” released earlier this month, revealed problems of sexual harassment in the world’s greatest deliberative body, including one incident where a senator squeezed her waist and said, “Don’t lose too much weight now. I like my girls chubby.”
Despite pressure, Ms. Gillibrand has declined to name those who made the comments, saying that it would detract from putting a spotlight on the broader problem as a whole.
But sources with knowledge of the incident told The New York Times that it was Inouye who made the comment. The Hawaii Democrat, who died in office in December 2012, was a decorated war veteran, earning the Medal of Honor during World War II, and was one of the longest-serving senators in history.
The senator’s iconic career was not without scandal. In 1992, his hairdresser alleged that Inouye forced her to have nonconsensual sex with him, but the Senate Ethics Committee eventually dropped the investigation, Politico reported.
Ms. Gillibrand’s office would neither confirm nor deny that Inouye made the comment, The New York Times said.
• Jacqueline Klimas can be reached at jklimas@washingtontimes.com.
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