Republican Louisiana Sen. John Neely Kennedy sparked backlash and mockery Wednesday after he asked Supreme Court Justice nominee Amy Coney Barrett “who does the laundry in” her house.
The question came after a round of serious questions, the last of which Barrett said she hoped was “an easy one.” Kennedy, the last Senate Judiciary Committee member to question the judge, said “it is,” adding: “It’s a sincere question, I’m genuinely curious. Who does the laundry in your house?”
“Okay so who is going to ask the next male Supreme Court nominee if he does the laundry in his house?” NBC News’ Capitol Hill correspondent Kasie Hunt tweeted.
New York Times politics writer and CNN analyst Lisa Lerer appeared shocked by the question, wondering if Kennedy really had just asked “Barrett who does the laundry in her house.”
“What?” she tweeted.
Some people wondered if the same question would be asked of a male candidate. Grace Segers, a political reporter at CBS News, appeared unconvinced that anyone would have asked this of “a male nominee to the highest court in the land.”
Really do wonder if a male nominee to the highest court in the land who was the father of seven school-aged children would be asked who does the laundry
— Grace Segers (@Grace_Segers) October 14, 2020
We all do the laundry in my house too. Can my 5 year old have a seat?
— ilyseh (@ilyseh) October 14, 2020
“That’s it. Next week at the espnW Summit I’m gonna ask DeMar DeRozan if he can really have it all, whether he feels guilty missing out on parenting to go to work and whether he uses fabric softener,” ESPN’s Sarah Spain tweeted.
Senator Kennedy ended his questioning by asking who does the laundry in Judge Barrett’s house, because why not? Nothing matters to them. More than 215K Americans have died from COVID, but they won’t act. Nearly 15M people have already voted. Everything about this is ridiculous.
— Vanita Gupta (@vanitaguptaCR) October 14, 2020
Barrett responded to Kennedy’s question, saying that the couple has been trying to get their children to complete their own laundry.
“We increasingly have been trying to get our children to take responsibility for their own, but those efforts are not always successful,” Barrett said. (RELATED: Amy Coney Barrett Fires Back At Dick Durbin, Says Answering His Question Would Violate ‘Canons Of Conduct’)