Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) on Wednesday suggested that her disagreement with fellow Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) on how best to prosecute sexual assault in the military has gotten outsized attention because of their gender.
“I’m a little upset that there’s been so much attention to the fact that two women disagree on something,” she said on MSNBC’s “Now With Alex Wagner” when asked about their differing policy proposals. “I wonder if there would be so much attention if men disagreed?”
While she disagrees with Gillibrand on how best to tackle the problem of sexual assault in the nation’s armed forces, McCaskill maintained that she can still collaborate with her fellow Democrat on the issue.
“We have worked together on this subject, and we’ll continue to work together,” she said.
McCaskill’s bill would keep prosecution on sexual assault cases within the military chain of command, while Gillibrand’s proposed legislation would remove serious crimes from military commanders’ control and assign an independent prosecutor in cases of rape.
