The Sexist Chatter at Elaine Chao's Confirmation Hearing Will Make You Shudder

There were no demonstrations or outbursts from protesters at Elaine Chao's confirmation hearing Wednesday to become Trump's secretary of transportation. The former secretary of labor in the second Bush administration may have not been loved by labor unions, but her previous experience as a deputy transportation secretary for George H.W. Bush makes her uniquely qualified for the job. The most notable moments during Chao's appearance before the Senate Science, Commerce, and Transportation Committee did not concern her positions on safety regulation, Trump's infrastructure plan, or incubating the self-driving car industry, but rather her marriage to Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). McConnell appeared at the hearing to introduce his wife. "I regret that I have but one wife to give for my country's infrastructure," McConnell said echoing the words of the former Senate majority leader Bob Dole in 1983, when he introduced his wife, Elizabeth Dole, for her confirmation hearing to be secretary of transportation in the Reagan administration.