Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand grilled Joe Biden on an op-ed that about women working outside of the home, which he wrote when he was a senator.
"I want to address Vice President Biden directly. When the Senate was debating middle class affordability for child care he wrote an op-ed. He voted against it," she began. "He wrote an op-ed: He believed that women working outside the home would, quote, 'create the deterioration of family.' He also said that women who were working outside the home were quote, 'avoiding responsibility.'"
She asked him what those quotes meant — and Biden explained why he voted against the bill.
"That was a long time ago," he said. "It would have given people making today $100,000 a year tax break for child care. I didn't want that. I wanted the child care to go to people making less than $100,000."
Gillibrand was not satisfied.
"Mr. Vice President you didn't answer my question," she said. "What did you mean when you said when a woman works outside the home, it's resulting in, quote, 'the deterioration of family'?"
Biden said both his late and current wives worked outside the home, and he said that he wrote the Violence Against Women Act. He pointed out that he and Gillibrand have worked together on women's issues.
"I don't know what's happened except you're now running for president," Biden said to Gillibrand.
Here's how Gillibrand responded:
"Mr. Vice President, I respect you deeply. I respect you deeply. But those words are very specific. You said women working outside the home lead to the deterioration of family."
"I never believed it" Biden said.
Watch this moment: